By Stanley Onyekwere
The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) has advised all taxable individuals including those in employment, elected and appointed public office holders, persons in self-employment and business owners to file their returns before the 31st day of March, this year.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Service stated that all taxable individuals in the FCT are expected to declare their income from all sources for the preceding year (2025) along with a statement of their deductions and other
information as required by law.
It also warmed that failure to file the personal income tax returns at the expiration of the period, will attract various sanctions as provided in the law, which include issuing a best of judgment assessment on defaulters, imposing penalties and interest
and other civil and criminal sanctions in line with the provisions of the law.
According to the statement signed by Head, Corporate Communications, FCT-IRS, Mustapha Sumaila, the statutory filing requirements apply to all taxable persons, including self-employed
individuals, business owners, professionals, persons in the informal sector and employees under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) scheme.
It added that it is in accordance with Section 24(f) of the 1999 constitution, Sections 13 and 14(3) of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 (NTAA), Section 24 of the FCT-IRS Act, 2015 and Paragraph 11 of the Personal Income Tax Guidelines, 2026 issued by the Joint Revenue Board, pursuant to Section 1-5(f) of the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025.
“The above laws and Guidelines require every individual with taxable income to submit a true and correct return of total income from all sources for the preceding year (in this case, January 1st to December 31st 2025) within 90 days of commencement of the 2026 assessment year.
“All taxpayers resident in FCT are advised to visit the FCT-IRS self-service portal (www.taxporta.fctirs.gov.ng) to file their returns online or visit any FCT-IRS office nearest to them to fill the relevant forms and submit them accordingly”.
It will be recalled that during the recently concluded FCT-IRS Stakeholders’ Engagement forum, the Acting Executive Chairman, Mr Michael Ango stated that voluntary compliance through timely registration, filing, and payment of taxes is a catalyst for progress and development in the FCT, as it will enable Government to provide security, infrastructures, social and other services to citizens.
Ango noted that tax payments are utilized by Government to fund road projects, build and renovate schools, hospitals and other critical projects. He added that, it is incumbent on residents of the FCT to show to support for the efforts of the FCT administration under the Minister of the FCT, His Excellency, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, CON to improve infrastructure and social services in the FCT by paying their taxes and fling returns as required by law.
