Returns filed late or missed
Penalties and interest build quickly, and they are usually avoidable with a working calendar.
Tax records, filings and advisory
Tax Management & Compliance
Nigerian tax compliance has become more digital and more actively enforced. What protects a business is not last-minute filing but clean records, a clear understanding of what applies, and a calendar that is actually followed. We build and maintain the tax records, prepare the computations and returns within the agreed scope, and explain the position to you in plain language before anything is filed.
Who this service is for
- Companies filing VAT, withholding tax and company income tax returns with limited internal capacity.
- Businesses that have grown past the point where an administrator can keep the tax calendar.
- Employers operating PAYE across one or more states with staff who move between locations.
- Groups needing consistent treatment across several registered entities.
- Businesses preparing for a tax review, a query or a field visit and needing their records in order.
- Organisations with donor funding or government contracts where tax treatment must be documented and defensible.
The problems this addresses
Withholding tax that is not tracked
Deducted at source but not always credited, evidenced or reconciled — which surfaces painfully during a review.
PAYE handled inconsistently
Registration, remittance and reconciliation across states is easy to get wrong and expensive to correct.
Records that cannot support a return
The computation exists but the underlying documentation does not, which is what turns a query into an assessment.
Incentives and reliefs not claimed
Allowable deductions, capital allowances and available incentives are missed simply because nobody reviewed the position.
No single view of tax exposure
Management cannot see the total position across taxes, periods and entities.
Scope and deliverables
The scope below describes the work we commonly undertake. What applies to your business, and which returns we prepare on your behalf, is confirmed in writing before the engagement starts and reflects current Nigerian requirements at that date.
-
Tax records and registers
Maintaining the underlying registers — sales and purchase VAT analysis, withholding tax deducted and suffered, PAYE schedules, capital allowance records — so that any return can be evidenced.
-
Registration and compliance housekeeping
Confirming registrations, taxpayer identification records and filing obligations across the relevant authorities, and clearing historic gaps.
-
Return preparation
Preparation of computations and returns within the agreed scope, reviewed with you before submission.
-
Filing and remittance support
Supporting submission within statutory deadlines and reconciling payments made to amounts filed.
-
PAYE and employment tax support
Payroll tax treatment, statutory deduction schedules, reconciliation of deductions to remittances, and year-end reporting.
-
Withholding tax management
Tracking credit notes and certificates, reconciling amounts suffered against liabilities, and pursuing credits where they are due.
-
Tax health review
A review of the last one to three years covering exposure, unclaimed reliefs, documentation gaps and process weaknesses, with a prioritised action list.
-
Advisory and planning
Advice on the tax treatment of specific transactions, restructuring and structuring decisions, and the documentation needed to support a position.
-
Query and review support
Assembling the information and explanations needed to respond to a query or review, and working through the process with you.
-
Compliance calendar
A maintained calendar of every filing and payment date relevant to the business, with responsibility assigned.
How the engagement works
-
Compliance review
We establish what applies to the business, what has been filed, and where the gaps are. This is often the most valuable part of the engagement.
-
Agree scope and calendar
Which returns we prepare, which you retain, the deadlines, and who is responsible for each.
-
Records in order
We build or repair the registers and documentation that support the returns, working with your accounting records.
-
Monthly and periodic cycle
Preparation, your review, submission, and reconciliation of what was filed to what was paid.
-
Annual cycle
Annual computations, filings and the tax position for the accounts, coordinated with your statutory reporting.
-
Ongoing advisory
You bring us transactions and decisions as they arise, rather than reconstructing the year afterwards.
What we need from you
Preparation is where most engagements are won or lost. The more of this you can gather before we start, the faster the work goes and the more accurately we can scope it.
- Access to the accounting records, or the monthly pack where we also hold the bookkeeping.
- Existing tax registrations, taxpayer identification records and correspondence from the authorities.
- Filed returns and payment evidence for the periods under review.
- Payroll data and deduction schedules.
- Withholding tax certificates and credit notes received.
- Contracts and invoices for transactions where the tax treatment is not straightforward.
What you can reasonably expect
- A clear view of what applies to the business and what has been filed.
- Returns prepared on time and supported by records.
- Withholding tax credits tracked rather than lost.
- Fewer avoidable penalties and interest charges.
- Documentation that can be produced quickly if a query arrives.
- Management time spent on the business rather than on the tax calendar.
We do not promise a specific tax saving, and we do not advise positions we cannot support with documentation. Where an aggressive treatment is being suggested to you elsewhere, we will tell you plainly what the risk is.
What affects fees and timelines
We do not publish a price list. The drivers below vary too much between businesses for a published figure to be honest — and a price quoted before an assessment is usually wrong in one direction or the other.
| Factor | How it affects the engagement |
|---|---|
| Number and type of filings | A single-entity business with monthly VAT and PAYE is a different scope from a group with several taxes across multiple states. |
| Condition of historic records | Reconstructing two years of registers is a defined project in its own right. |
| Transaction complexity | Imports, exports, inter-company charges, digital services and cross-border payments each need specific treatment. |
| Payroll size and locations | Headcount and the number of states drive PAYE effort. |
| Open queries or reviews | Responding to an existing review adds work that is scoped separately. |
| Advisory volume | Transaction-specific advice is usually charged by the engagement rather than inside the compliance fee. |
Compliance work is quoted as an annual or monthly fee once the filing profile is understood. Reviews, advisory and query responses are quoted separately.
Software and industries this service applies to
Platforms we commonly work with for this service
Sectors we apply this service in
Frequently asked questions
Why are there no rates or thresholds on this page?
Because they change, and a figure that is out of date is more damaging than no figure. We apply the position in force at the date of the engagement and confirm it with you in writing. If you need the current position, ask us and we will give you the current reference.
Can you fix several years of unfiled returns?
Usually yes, and it is better to address the gap than to leave it. We scope it as a defined project: establish the position, agree the approach with you, prepare what is required, and deal with the authorities' process.
Do you represent us in a tax dispute?
We support you through queries and reviews by assembling the records, explanations and computations needed. Where formal representation before a tribunal is required, that depends on the credentials of the individual adviser, and we will tell you clearly who is handling it and on what basis.
Can you save us tax?
We identify reliefs, allowances and treatments the business is entitled to and has not claimed, and we make sure the documentation supports them. We will not recommend a position we cannot defend.
Do you work with our existing tax adviser?
Yes. Where a business already has an adviser, we commonly handle the records, registers and preparation while the adviser retains signing or representation. Clear scope avoids duplicated fees.
How do you keep up with changes?
Every engagement references the law in force at the date it is given. Where a change affects a client, we notify affected clients and update the compliance calendar and the accounting configuration accordingly.
Let’s build a stronger financial foundation for your business.
Tell us what you are dealing with. We will tell you honestly whether we can help, what it would involve and what it would cost.