Tax Administration and Compliance
What the domain tests
Tax administration and compliance tests the statutory machinery: registration, returns, payments, assessments, objections, appeals and enforcement. It spans federal taxes administered by the Nigeria Revenue Service (including CIT, VAT, WHT and CGT for companies) and state taxes such as PAYE and personal income tax. The TPC expects you to know who files what, by when, where, and what happens when a deadline is missed.
Core rules
- Registration: obtain or update the TIN; register for VAT when taxable supplies are made.
- Filing deadlines: CIT self-assessment return within six months after the accounting period end; PAYE remittance by the 10th of the following month; VAT return and payment by the 21st; WHT remittance by the 21st; personal income tax return by 31 March. Confirm current Finance Act amendments for the relevant year.
- Payment and evidence: pay electronically, keep receipts and remittance schedules; a return is not complete without payment or an agreed arrangement.
- Assessment: self-assessment is the norm; the revenue may raise additional or best-of-judgment assessments.
- Objection and appeal: file a notice of objection within 30 days of service of the assessment, stating grounds and attaching evidence. If the revenue does not resolve it, appeal to the Tax Appeal Tribunal within the prescribed period; further appeals on law go to the Federal High Court.
- Enforcement: penalties, interest, distraint and tax clearance certificate conditions.
Worked example
A company with a 31 December 2024 year end files its CIT return on 31 July 2025. The statutory deadline is 30 June 2025, so the return is one month late. The company should file immediately, pay the computed tax, and compute the late-filing penalty and interest. An e-filing portal outage does not extend the deadline unless the revenue has issued a public concession. Reason: the deadline runs from the accounting period end, not from the date the accounts are signed.
Traps
Counting six months from the audit sign-off date; remitting WHT on the 25th because the invoice was paid late; missing the 30-day objection window; appealing to the wrong body; treating a TAT decision as final on law; and assuming VAT and PAYE share the same remittance date.