Businesses and individuals have until January 31st to file their yearly tax returns for the year 2023, according to the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS).
Mojisola Aboyade-Cole, the chief of the LIRS’s Relation Management Unit, said this in an interview with Arise TV.
She states that companies are required by law to file their tax returns on behalf of their employees and that companies can file their tax returns electronically through the e-tax platform, as they have been doing for the past four (4) years.
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She added that companies must submit four main forms on the platform: income projections, annual tax returns, withholding tax schedules, and schedules of payments
On deadlines and possible extensions, she stated it has been conventional practice for businesses to file their tax returns by January 31 and the only exception was during the COVID-19 period.
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She said, “It is a legal obligation, it is statutory and there is no provision on the law for extension. The only time I know extensions were granted was during the time of COVID or probably when there was a company that was locked up… but even if your company is locked up now, everything is online so there is no excuse”
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Penalties for underreporting or evasion
On penalties for tax evasion or underreporting of income, she stated thus “we have the penalties which are N20,000 for incorrect filing and double the outstanding that has been unpaid, and also N500,000 for businesses for evasion or under-reporting. We have those two and of course conviction of six months when we take you to court.”
“We have a legal directorate, that is their KPI, to go after people who are recalcitrant but as a business owner just don’t run afoul of the law”
She urged individuals and businesses to file in early to avoid the last-minute rush.
