Collecting your Nigerian staff's Tax IDs
Why a Nigerian employer needs each employee's Tax ID, how staff retrieve theirs with their NIN, and the checks to make before payroll uses it.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Running a business businesses in Nigeria
Ask a new hire for their Tax ID and you may get a blank look, an old TIN from years ago, or their NIN with a hopeful "is this the same thing?" Since Nigeria introduced the single Tax ID, many employees have not yet looked theirs up, and some are wary of doing so.
For an employer, the Tax ID is part of getting each employee's tax right, from the first payroll to the year-end paperwork. This article explains what the Tax ID is, how an employee retrieves it with their NIN, where it matters in your payroll records, the check Achekam makes and the one it cannot make, and how to reassure staff who are nervous about it.
A Tax ID tied to the NIN
The FCT Internal Revenue Service's public notice of 29 December 2025 describes the Tax ID as a unique, system-generated number assigned to all taxable persons in Nigeria. For individuals it is linked to the National Identification Number; for businesses and organisations, to the CAC registration number.
The NRS says the same thing in its own words: a Tax ID is obtained or retrieved on the National Tax ID portal using the person's foundational identity, which for individuals is the NIN.
So the NIN and the Tax ID are related but not interchangeable. The NIN is the identity number; the Tax ID is the tax number derived from it. Payroll needs the Tax ID.
Why your payroll needs it
The NRS lists a Tax ID first among the things an individual needs to file a personal income tax return, along with evidence of income and the tax deduction cards employers provide. An employee without their Tax ID cannot file, and the deduction card you give them is more useful when it carries the number the tax authority knows them by.
The employer's own reporting points the same way. Under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025, an employer files a return by 31st January each year showing, for every employee, the gross emoluments, total deductions, net emoluments and tax deducted. Each of those lines has to be tied to the right person, and the Tax ID is the number designed to identify taxable persons. In Achekam, that annual employer return, like the monthly PAYE schedules per State, is prepared from approved pay runs, so an employee's payroll record is the place to get their details right before the year ends.
How staff retrieve their Tax ID
The FCT-IRS notice sets out the steps on the portal:
- Choose the Individual tab.
- Select NIN.
- Enter the 11-digit NIN.
- Enter the first name, last name and date of birth exactly as captured by NIMC.
- The 13-digit Tax ID is displayed.
The step that trips people up is the fourth. If an employee's NIMC record spells their name differently from how they usually write it, or has a different date of birth, the retrieval will not match. They need to enter the details as NIMC holds them, not as they appear on their CV.
The FCT-IRS explains the portal, the retrieval steps and its assurances to taxpayers in its notice on the Nigerian Tax ID portal going live. At the time of writing, the NRS's own retrieval page still links to a portal at a firs.gov.ng address, a leftover from before the change of name.
Recording Tax IDs in Achekam
In Achekam, employees can be added one by one or imported from a CSV file. The import checks every row and writes all rows or none, so a file with a problem in one row is refused as a whole rather than half-loaded. Fix the row and import again.
On the Tax ID itself, be clear about what Achekam can and cannot check. Achekam checks only that a Nigeria Tax ID has 13 digits; it cannot confirm the number with the authority, because no public verification service was found to connect to. A NIN is not accepted as a Tax ID. The user retrieves the Tax ID on the portal and records the evidence.
That means a 13-digit number with a transposed digit will pass. The real check is the evidence: ask each employee for a screenshot or printout of the portal page showing their Tax ID, keep it with their record, and have someone compare the number keyed in with the evidence.
Reassuring staff
Some employees hesitate because they have heard the Tax ID will be used to take money from their accounts. The FCT-IRS notice addresses that directly: it says the Tax ID is strictly for tax administration and that its introduction will not lead to bank account deductions or closures due to non-compliance.
Share that sentence, with the link to the notice, in the message asking staff for their Tax IDs. It does more than any reassurance you could write yourself.
A new-hire tax details checklist
- The employee's NIN, and confirmation that their NIMC details are current.
- Their 13-digit Tax ID, retrieved on the portal.
- A screenshot or printout of the portal page as evidence, filed with their record.
- A second person's check of the number keyed in against the evidence.
- Their State of residence for PAYE.
Your business's own Tax ID belongs on your invoices; see your Tax ID on Nigerian invoices. Add the Tax ID request to the first-employee checklist, and see PAYE by State and the annual employer return for where the year's figures end up.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
