Nigerian VAT return deadlines, nil returns included
When a Nigerian client's monthly VAT return is due, why a nil return still has to be filed, and how a firm prepares returns from imported schedules.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in Nigeria
VAT is the return Nigerian clients forget most often, and the reason is usually the same: "We had no sales that month." A client that made no taxable supplies assumes there is nothing to file. The law disagrees, and the penalty for a missing return does not depend on whether any VAT was due.
For a firm handling VAT for many Nigerian clients, the monthly cycle is relentless: twelve deadlines a year per client, each one on the same day of the month. This article sets out the deadline, why nil returns matter, how Achekam prepares client returns from imported schedules, and how filing on Rev360 is recorded.
Due by the 21st of the following month
A Nigerian VAT return, including a nil return, is due on or before the 21st of the month after the period. The return for March is due by 21 April; the return for December is due by 21 January.
Nigeria's VAT rate is 7.5%, unchanged when the Nigeria Tax Act took effect on 1 January 2026. The NRS page on value added tax explains who must register and charge VAT, the monthly return due by the 21st, the exemption that lets small companies skip filing and paying VAT, what a VAT invoice must show, and input VAT recovery.
Because every client shares the same due day, the firm's workload peaks in the same few days each month. Spread the preparation: ask clients for their schedules by an early date in the month, and prepare in batches well before the 21st.
Nil returns are still due
The rule covers nil returns explicitly. A registered client with no taxable supplies and no input VAT to claim in a month still files, on the same date.
Missing a nil return is not harmless. A late or incorrect Nigerian return costs ₦100,000 for the first month and ₦50,000 for each month after. A client that stops trading for a season and forgets its nil returns can build up penalties on returns that would have shown no tax at all.
There is one important exception. A small business in Nigeria is exempt from registering for, charging and filing VAT, but may opt in. A client that qualifies and has not opted in has no monthly VAT return. The difficulty is that the turnover limit for that exemption is contested between two official texts of the 2025 tax Acts, so whether a particular client qualifies may be uncertain. The small-business VAT exemption covers that question.
| Client situation | Monthly return? |
|---|---|
| Registered, with sales or purchases in the month | Yes, by the 21st |
| Registered, no activity in the month | Yes, a nil return by the 21st |
| Small business, exempt and not opted in | No |
| Small business that opted in | Yes, by the 21st |
Computing from imported schedules
Achekam computes a client's Nigerian VAT return from imported sales and purchase schedules, because the client's own books are not linked to it. In practice that means the client's sales and purchase lines are brought in as schedules for the period, and the return is built from them.
The quality of the return depends on the schedules. Before computing:
- Check that the schedules cover the whole month, with no missing days or branches.
- Reconcile the sales schedule to the client's own sales records for the period.
- Confirm that input VAT claimed is supported by valid VAT invoices.
- Ask about credit notes, which clients often leave out of schedules.
Returns move through prepare, review and approve by different people in the Revenue Service Centre, and once approved, the return's rule snapshot and figures are frozen; a correction later is a new version. The computation also depends on approved rules: every Nigerian tax figure in Achekam's rule book was seeded "under review", and nothing is computed from a figure until an Achekam platform administrator approves it. Client VAT from imported schedules describes the import in more detail.
Invoices that are not fiscalised
For a business's own VAT return, Achekam lists the period's invoices, credit notes and till sales that have not been fiscalised, without blocking the return. For a client's return computed from imported schedules, that check is not applicable, because the schedules carry no fiscalisation status.
So the firm cannot rely on Achekam to flag a client's unfiscalised invoices. Ask the client directly whether its invoices for the period went through the e-invoicing system, and note the answer on the return.
Filing on Rev360 and recording it
Achekam does not file Nigerian tax returns. A person with the firm's NRS filing permission files on Rev360 and uploads the receipt, and a different person verifies it before the return counts as filed.
No role receives that filing permission by default; a firm grants it to named people only. The research behind these articles found no screen that grants it, so recording a filing may be unreachable. Test it before relying on it, and if it cannot be granted, keep each Rev360 receipt on the client's file with the date filed and the person who filed. What a late return costs is set out in penalties for late Nigerian returns and payments.
A monthly rhythm
Set an internal cut-off for client schedules early in each month, prepare and review in batches, and file every return, nil returns included, a few days before the 21st. Keep a list of clients that are exempt and have not opted in, and review it each quarter.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
