Further to our Tax Alert Issue No 3.7 of March 2020, communicating the extended deadline of 31 May 2020 for filing annual tax returns for employees and self-employed persons with the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), the LIRS has further extended the deadline by one month. Consequently, the new filing deadline for the returns is Tuesday, 30 June 2020. 

On this basis, taxpayers who are yet to file their annual tax returns now have more time to comply by filing online via LIRS’ eTax Platform - https://etax.lirs.net

Comments

We commend the LIRS for further extending the deadline for filing the annual tax returns. This is necessary as some businesses are yet to reopen, and those that have reopened are only operating skeletally, following the partial easing of the lockdown imposed to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).

However, as businesses continue to contend with dwindling productivity and cashflow challenges, it is important for the LIRS to consider other palliatives that will directly alleviate the financial burden on taxpayers. Some of those measures adopted in other countries include the extension of payment deadline for employee taxes and waiver of penalty for late payment of taxes.

Please click here to read the LIRS announcement and here to access KPMG Business Impact Series on COVID-19.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Wole Obayomi
ng-fmtaxenquiries@ng.kpmg.com