A tax clearance certificate (TCC) proves you have paid your taxes for the last three years, or had nothing to pay. You will be asked for one more often than you expect.
Who asks for it
Government contracts and tenders, some licences and permits, land transactions and the Governor’s consent, some loans, some visa and immigration processes, and appointments to certain public offices.
For an individual living in Lagos
Your TCC comes from the LIRS, because your income tax is a Lagos tax.
- If you are employed, your employer deducts PAYE and remits it to the LIRS. Your employer’s remittances, your tax identification number and your annual return are what the LIRS checks.
- If you are self-employed, you need to have filed your returns and paid what was assessed.
Apply through the LIRS’s online portal with your tax identification number. If your records are incomplete — an employer that did not remit, a year with no return — sort that out first; it is the usual reason for delay.
Income tax in Lagos Freelancing, and the tax on it
For a company
A company’s TCC for companies income tax comes from the federal NRS, not the LIRS. Its payroll tax, which it deducts from staff and pays to the LIRS, is checked separately.
Keep your records
Payslips, your employer’s remittance evidence, withholding tax receipts and copies of your returns make a TCC application quick. Without them it can take months.