Filing your own personal tax return as an owner
Whether a Nigerian sole proprietor or business owner must file a personal income tax return, the forms and routes, what to gather and the bands.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Running a business businesses in Nigeria
When you ran someone else's business, your employer took care of your tax. Now you run your own: a pharmacy in Ibadan, a design studio in Lekki, a haulage business out of Kano. The business keeps its own records, but the question of your personal tax return is yours alone, and nobody deducts anything on your behalf before the money reaches you.
Many owners assume that because the business is small, or because it is "only" a sole proprietorship, there is nothing to file. The Nigeria Revenue Service says otherwise. This guide explains who must file, the forms and the ways to submit them, what to gather, how the business's figures feed the return, and the bands that apply once reliefs are taken off.
Who must file
The NRS says all Nigerian residents aged 18 and above earning income from Nigerian sources must file personal income tax returns. Its list is broad: salaried employees, the self-employed, and people with investment, rental or business income. The same page says non-residents receiving Nigerian-sourced income must also file.
For a sole proprietor, the business's profit is the owner's business income, so the owner falls squarely within that list. An owner who also earns a salary, rent from a property or investment income has several sources to bring together in one return.
The NRS's Individual Income Tax page sets out who must file, the forms, the routes for filing and what to bring, and is the page to check before each filing season.
Forms A, B and H, and how to file
The NRS says individuals file personal income tax returns on Form A, B or H. Which form fits you depends on your circumstances, so confirm with the NRS, your State Internal Revenue Service or your adviser before you begin.
There are three ways to file, according to the NRS:
- electronically, through the NRS or your State Internal Revenue Service e-filing portal;
- on paper, at the nearest NRS or SIRS office; or
- through a tax professional.
Whichever route you choose, keep proof of submission with your records.
What to have ready
The NRS lists what an individual needs:
- your Tax ID;
- the completed return forms;
- evidence of income, such as payslips or bank statements;
- receipts supporting any reliefs you claim; and
- tax deduction cards from employers, if you also earn a salary.
The relief receipts are where owners most often fall short. A relief you cannot support with a receipt is a relief you may not get.
Business profit from management accounts and bank statements
The figure that takes most effort is the business income, and it is only as reliable as the books behind it. In Achekam, management accounts show an income statement for a chosen period beside the period before, and a balance sheet at period end, both added up from the business's own journals and exportable as PDF or CSV. The year-to-date preset starts on 1 January; if your business uses a different year, set the dates yourself.
Those books depend on complete bank records. Achekam imports bank statements as PDF, CSV, Excel, OFX, QIF, MT940 or CAMT.053, and checks each import so that the opening balance plus the movements equals the closing balance. Where the workspace has an AI model configured, it can read scanned or unrecognised PDFs, and every amount must appear on the page. A statement that fails the balance check tells you something is missing before it reaches your tax figures.
A worked example in words: an owner closes the year, imports the last two months of bank statements, posts the remaining supplier bills and runs the income statement for the year. The profit figure, with the previous year beside it for comparison, becomes the business income on the return, and the exported PDF goes into the filing folder.
Reliefs and the bands
Reliefs come off before tax is worked out. The NRS lists deductions an individual may claim, including contributions to approved pension schemes, life insurance premiums and the National Housing Fund, loss relief for businesses and capital allowances on assets. It advises consulting a tax professional or the regulations for the reliefs available.
The Nigeria Tax Act, 2025 adds detail. Its eligible deductions include National Housing Fund, National Health Insurance Scheme and Pension Reform Act contributions, interest on loans for an owner-occupied residential house, life assurance or deferred annuity premiums, and rent relief of 20% of annual rent paid, up to ₦500,000. The Act requires deductions to be claimed in writing in the form the tax authority prescribes. Rent receipts matter for that last relief; see rent receipts for relief.
After reliefs and exemptions, the Act taxes an individual's taxable income on these bands, at the time of writing:
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| First ₦800,000 | 0% |
| Next ₦2,200,000 | 15% |
| Next ₦9,000,000 | 18% |
| Next ₦13,000,000 | 21% |
| Next ₦25,000,000 | 23% |
| Above ₦50,000,000 | 25% |
The same bands apply to salaried income through PAYE, covered in PAYE bands under the Nigeria Tax Act.
An annual filing checklist for owners
- Close the business's books for the year and export the income statement and balance sheet.
- Gather payslips and tax deduction cards for any salary.
- Gather records of rental and investment income.
- Collect receipts for pension, NHF, insurance and rent reliefs.
- Confirm your Tax ID and which form applies.
- File online, on paper or through a tax professional, and keep proof.
Keep the whole set together in one folder. Document Centre in Achekam is a folder-based store where you can upload the year's statements and receipts, tag them and search for them later, and a corrected document saved as a new version keeps the earlier one. Start that folder now, and add each receipt as it arrives rather than hunting for it at filing time.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
