Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, has said that all Nigerians are required to file annual tax returns by March 31, regardless of their income level or whether Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) tax has already been deducted.
Oyedele made this known during a recent webinar organised in collaboration with the Joint Revenue Board (JRB), which brought together human resource managers, payroll officers, chief financial officers and tax managers.
The session was later shared on his YouTube channel.
PAYE is a tax system under which employers deduct income tax directly from employees’ salaries and remit it to the government.
Speaking at the virtual event, Oyedele said employers are statutorily required to file annual tax returns on behalf of their employees, including projections of staff remuneration for the year.
In terms of filing returns, you need to file annual returns as employers for your employees. Many of you must have done that already, he said.
If you haven’t, you have just a couple of days left to file those returns, including projections of how much you will pay your staff.
He noted that compliance with tax return filing remains low across the country, adding that even the most advanced states struggle with the process.
This is one area where we have been non-compliant in Nigeria. In many states, more than 90 percent even the most sophisticated states cannot boast of up to five percent filing returns, Oyedele said.
The fiscal policy expert also dismissed the widespread belief that employees whose PAYE taxes have been deducted are exempt from filing personal income tax returns.
Many people assume that if they are an employee and the employer has deducted PAYE, they don’t have to do anything. That is wrong, he said.
Both under the old and new tax laws, you must still file your returns.
Oyedele stressed that the requirement applies to all taxpayers, including low-income earners, noting that tax authorities are working to simplify the filing process.
All of us must file our returns, including those earning low income. You must file returns by March 31 of the year in respect of the previous fiscal year, he added.
On the new tax law, Oyedele said businesses benefiting from tax incentives are now required to disclose such incentives when filing their tax returns or shortly thereafter.
