Why a small Nigerian company still files a tax return
Why a small Nigerian company that pays 0% company income tax must still file an annual return, when it is due, and what goes with it.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Running a business businesses in Nigeria
Many owners reason that a small company paying no company tax has nothing to file. It is an understandable line of thought, and under Nigeria's new tax law it is wrong. From 1 January 2026, a small company pays company income tax at 0%. It does not stop being a taxpayer. It still has to tell the NRS, once a year, what it earned and why the answer is nothing.
A return with no tax on it may feel like paperwork for its own sake. Skipping it is not free: the penalty for a missing return applies whether or not tax was due. This article explains who must file, when, what to attach, how to handle the uncertainty about whether you count as small, and how the return is prepared and filed.
Every company files, small and exempt ones included
From 1 January 2026, a small company in Nigeria pays 0% company income tax and every other company pays 30%. Separately, every Nigerian company, including a small or exempt one, must file an annual self-assessment return.
The two rules sit side by side. The first decides how much tax you pay. The second decides whether you file. Being small changes the first and not the second. How the 0% and 30% rates work, and the Development Levy that large companies pay on top, is covered in Nigerian company income tax from 2026.
Six months after the year end, once established
For a company that has been in business more than 18 months, the annual return is due within 6 months after its year end. A December year end means a return by the end of June; a March year end, by the end of September.
Newer companies have their own timetable. The NRS's page on company income tax sets out which companies must file a self-assessment return, the deadlines (six months after the year end, or within 18 months for a new company), and what the return must contain: audited or taxpayer-attested accounts, tax and capital allowance computations, proof of payment and the effective-tax-rate computation.
Where tax is due, it is paid by the filing due date. For a small company paying 0%, the payment side may be empty, but the filing date still stands.
Attested accounts instead of audited ones
A small company may attach taxpayer-attested accounts to its return instead of audited ones. In other words, the company itself stands behind the figures, rather than an auditor's report. That saves the cost of an audit for tax purposes, but it does not lower the standard: attested accounts should still be drawn from reconciled books, and whoever attests them is vouching for them.
Whether your company needs an audit for other reasons, such as company law, lenders or investors, is a separate question. Attested accounts answer the tax return's need only.
When Achekam cannot yet say whether you are small
Whether a company counts as small depends on a turnover limit, and that limit is contested. Achekam does not use the contested small-company turnover figure until one Achekam platform administrator chooses a candidate with a reason and a different administrator approves it. Until then, Achekam shows the company's size class as UNDETERMINED, with what each candidate figure would give.
That display is useful, not a failure. If your turnover falls below both candidate figures, the answer is the same either way. If it falls between them, you are in the zone where the contested text matters, and your adviser should decide which reading to apply and record why. Whatever the answer, you still file.
Preparing, reviewing and filing the return
In Achekam, a Nigerian tax return is prepared by one person, reviewed by a second and approved by a third. Once approved, its rule snapshot and figures are frozen; an amendment is a new version, and nothing is overwritten.
Achekam does not file the return. A person with the business's NRS filing permission files it on Rev360 and uploads the receipt, and a different person verifies it before the return counts as filed. Rev360, the portal that replaced TaxPro Max, takes returns by Excel upload or web form; see Rev360: the NRS portal that replaced TaxPro Max.
The return carries the company's Tax ID. Since 1 January 2026, Nigeria issues a 13-digit Tax ID that replaces previously issued TINs; a company retrieves it with its CAC registration number. Make sure the number on the return is the new one.
What a missed return costs
A late or incorrect Nigerian return costs N100,000 for the first month and N50,000 for each month after. A small company that never files faces that penalty growing month by month, on a return that would have shown no tax at all. Where tax is due and paid late, a 10% penalty and interest are added on top. The penalties are explained in what a late Nigerian tax return costs.
A year-end checklist for a small company
- Close the year's books and reconcile the bank accounts.
- Prepare the financial statements and decide who will attest them.
- Check the size class in Achekam, and agree the reading with your adviser if it is UNDETERMINED.
- Prepare, review and approve the return with three different people.
- File on Rev360 by the due date, with the attested accounts and the new Tax ID.
- Upload the receipt and have a second person verify it.
Filing a return that shows nothing due is the cheapest way to prove it.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
