Nigerian VAT returns: due dates and nil returns

When a Nigerian VAT return is due, why a month with no sales still needs a nil return, the penalties for missing it, and a routine that meets the 21st.

By Achekam · 11 October 2026 · 5 min read · For Running a business businesses in Nigeria

A quiet month is a dangerous month for VAT. The shop was closed for renovations, the contractor was between jobs, the new company has not landed its first customer. There is nothing to declare, so nobody files, and a few months later a penalty notice arrives for returns that were never sent.

In Nigeria, a VAT-registered business files every month whether or not it sold anything. This article sets out the date, the penalties, where the return is filed, and how Achekam's review steps fit around it.

The 21st of the following month, nil months included

A Nigerian VAT return is due on or before the 21st of the month after the period it covers. The rule, in section 22 of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025, applies to nil returns too: a month with no taxable supplies and no input VAT still needs a return showing nothing.

So the return for March is due by 21 April, and the return for a month in which the business made no sales at all is due on the same day as any other.

Not every business is in the system. A small business is exempt from registering for, charging and filing VAT, although it may choose to opt in. Once it has opted in or is registered, the monthly rhythm applies in full, quiet months included. The exemption and its disputed turnover limit are covered in Nigeria's small-business VAT exemption.

The NRS publishes a tax calendar of filing and payment deadlines, which lists VAT and withholding tax by the 21st of the following month alongside PAYE, company income tax and stamp duty dates.

What missing it costs

Penalties under the Administration Act are blunt. A late or incorrect return costs ₦100,000 for the first month and ₦50,000 for each month after that. Late payment of tax due attracts a 10% penalty plus interest, charged at the Central Bank's monetary policy rate plus a spread.

The late-filing penalty does not depend on how much VAT was due. A nil return filed three months late can cost more than a busy month's VAT. That is the strongest argument for treating nil returns as routine rather than optional.

Output and input VAT at the standard rate

The return itself is simple in shape. Output VAT is the VAT charged on standard-rated sales at 7.5%, the rate that continued unchanged under the Nigeria Tax Act from 1 January 2026. Input VAT is the VAT on your purchases that you are entitled to recover. The difference is what you pay, or carry forward.

Two cautions for a business keeping its books in Achekam:

• Approved rules only. Every Nigerian tax figure in Achekam was loaded "under review", and nothing is computed from a figure until an Achekam platform administrator approves it. Until the VAT rules are approved, Achekam will not work out the return for you.
• Check input VAT on bills. Supplier bills and purchase orders in a Nigerian workspace do not yet use the Nigerian rate: they offer 15% or 0% and default to 15%. Agree with your accountant how input VAT on bills is captured until that is fixed, and never accept the default.

Filing on Rev360 by Excel upload or web form

Returns are filed with the NRS on Rev360, its self-service system, which replaced TaxPro Max from 30 April 2026. Research found no public NRS system-to-system channel for filing returns, so filing is done on the portal by uploading the NRS Excel template or completing the web form.

Achekam does not file Nigerian tax returns for you. A person files on Rev360 and keeps the receipt. In Achekam's design, someone holding the filing permission then uploads that receipt and a different person verifies it before the return counts as filed. No role gets that permission by default; it is meant for named people only.

There is a current gap to know about: no screen was found that grants the filing permission, so recording the filing in Achekam may not be possible in your workspace yet. If it is not, keep the Rev360 receipt in your VAT file with the approved return and note on the return where the receipt is kept.

Three different people prepare, review and approve

Inside Achekam, a Nigerian tax return moves through three hands. One person prepares it, a second reviews it, and a third approves it. On approval, the rule snapshot and the figures are frozen, so the return you filed is the return you can show later. An amendment is made as a new version; nothing is overwritten.

For a small business with only two people near the books, that may mean asking your accountant to act as reviewer or approver. The point is that the person who built the figures is never the only one who checked them.

Achekam also lists the period's invoices, credit notes and till sales that have not been fiscalised under Nigeria's e-invoicing system. The list is a warning, not a block: the return can still go ahead, but each item on it is worth clearing with your e-invoicing provider before you file.

A month-end routine that meets the 21st

Achekam's filing calendar sets Nigerian deadlines at the end of the day in Lagos time, and it leaves out any deadline whose rule is still awaiting approval or is contested, saying why. Do not read a missing VAT date as "nothing due": the law still applies.

A routine that works for most businesses:

Leaving a day of slack before the 21st absorbs a portal outage or a missing receipt. For the separate question of standard-rated lines that Achekam refuses while the rate awaits approval, see charging VAT while rates await approval, and for the penalty regime across all Nigerian returns, read late tax return penalties in Nigeria.

Put the 21st in every calendar that matters this week, including those of the quiet months.

General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.