TAXPAYERS · INDIVIDUALS
Individual taxpayers
If you are eighteen or over, resident in the State and earning income from any source, you are a taxpayer. This page sets out exactly what that means: what you owe, when it falls due, what relief you are entitled to, and what happens if you ignore it.
Your obligations in plain terms
Personal income tax is charged on the income of individuals resident in the State. Residence, not employment, is what decides which State taxes you: if you live in this State and work in another, your tax comes here. The exceptions are members of the armed forces, the police, officers of the Nigerian Foreign Service, residents of the Federal Capital Territory and non-residents, all of whom are taxed by the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
How the tax reaches the Service depends on how you earn. If you are employed, your employer deducts it monthly under the Pay As You Earn scheme and remits it by the tenth of the following month; your job is to check that the deduction appears on your tax account and to file your annual return. If you are self-employed or have income from which nobody deducts tax, you file a return by 31 March each year and are assessed directly.
Either way, the same reliefs and the same graduated bands apply. A taxpayer earning ₦1,800,000 a year pays an effective rate of about 7.9 per cent once the Consolidated Relief Allowance, pension and National Housing Fund deductions are taken into account. The calculator on this site shows the whole computation, line by line, so nothing about your assessment should ever come as a surprise.
What an individual pays
Personal income tax
PAYE or direct assessment
Graduated bands from 7% to 24% on taxable income after reliefs. Deducted monthly by an employer, or assessed annually on a return you file.
Learn moreDevelopment levy
₦500 a year
A flat annual charge on every taxable adult resident in the State. Most employers deduct and remit it with the January PAYE schedule.
Learn moreLand use charge
If you own property
An annual charge on developed property, from 0.076% of assessed capital value for an owner-occupied home. Billed in March, due 30 June.
Learn moreVehicle licensing
If you own a vehicle
Annual vehicle licence and roadworthiness certificate. From ₦5,500 for a motorcycle to ₦30,000 for a private SUV.
Learn moreStamp duty
On instruments
On tenancy agreements, deeds and powers of attorney executed between individuals. 0.78% of annual rent on a short tenancy.
Learn moreWithholding tax
Deducted at source
On rent, professional fees, commission, dividends and interest you receive. Credited against your final liability, or final in some cases.
Learn moreYour year
| When | What is due | Who does it | If you miss it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly, by the 10th | PAYE deducted from your salary is remitted | Your employer | Employer liable for the tax, a 10% penalty and interest |
| 31 January | Employer files the annual return (Form H1) and issues your tax deduction card | Your employer | Employer penalty of ₦500,000 corporate / ₦50,000 individual |
| 31 March | You file your own return of income for the preceding year | You | ₦5,000 plus ₦100 for each day of default |
| 30 June | Land use charge on any developed property you own | You | 25% penalty, rising to 100% |
| On the licence expiry date | Vehicle licence and roadworthiness renewal | You | ₦25,000 and ₦15,000 fines |
| Within 30 days of execution | Stamp duty on any instrument you sign | You | Penalty, and the instrument is inadmissible in evidence |
| Any time | Update your address, phone number or employment on the portal | You | Notices served to a stale address are still valid service |
Reliefs you are entitled to
These come off your income before a naira of tax is computed. If your assessment does not show them, object.
- Consolidated Relief Allowance — the higher of ₦200,000 or 1% of gross income, plus 20% of gross income.
- Pension contribution — 8% of basic, housing and transport.
- National Housing Fund contribution — 2.5% of basic salary.
- National Health Insurance Authority contribution, where the scheme applies to you.
- Life assurance premium on your own life or that of your spouse.
- Interest on a loan taken to develop an owner-occupied residential house.
- Gratuity and compensation for loss of office, to the extent exempted by law.
- Income already taxed as a final tax — dividends, interest and rent that suffered withholding tax.
If you have never registered
Get your NIN if you do not have one
Enrolment is free at any NIMC centre. Your Taxpayer Identification Number is verified against it.
Register for a TIN
Free, online, about fifteen minutes. The number is issued the same day and is valid throughout the Federation.
Tell us how you earn
Employed, self-employed or both. This determines whether you are covered by an employer schedule or file a direct assessment.
File for the current year
If you have income not taxed at source, file a return by 31 March. Filing late is far better than not filing: an unfiled year invites a best-of-judgement assessment.
Regularise past years if you need to
Voluntary disclosure of past liability attracts the tax and interest but the Service exercises its discretion on penalties where the disclosure is complete and unprompted.
See what you owe before anyone tells you
The calculator uses the same reliefs and bands as the assessment desk.