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Nigerian Tax and Compliance

Statutory Remittances: Building a Monthly Compliance Calendar

PAYE, pension, NHF, NSITF, VAT, WHT and ITF each have their own destination, deadline and evidence. One calendar, one owner per line, and a weekend rule, so nothing is paid late because nobody was watching the date.

By Flux Editorial TeamPublished Last reviewed 4 min read

Illustrative example with fictional data.

Most late remittances aren't caused by a lack of money. They happen because the date lived in one person's head, and that person was on leave. A compliance calendar fixes that: every statutory payment, its deadline, its owner and the proof you keep, written down once and checked every month.

Below is the calendar we'd start from. Where we could confirm a date against the law or reliable commentary, we say so. Where we couldn't, the row says confirm with the authority, and you should.

The monthly calendar

Dates are for payments relating to the previous month, unless marked otherwise.

When What Paid to Owner Confidence
Within 7 working days of paying salaries Pension (employee 8% + employer 10%) Each employee's PFA, through its custodian Payroll Set by section 11 of the Pension Reform Act 2014 (ThisDay)
By the 10th PAYE deducted last month State internal revenue service where each employee is resident Payroll Most commentary; one source says the 21st. Confirm with your state
Monthly, date to confirm NHF (2.5% deducted from staff) Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria Payroll Confirm with FMBN
Monthly, date to confirm NSITF (employer, at least 1% of payroll) NSITF, via Remita Payroll / finance Confirm with NSITF
By the 21st VAT return and payment for last month Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) Finance Under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 (Banwo & Ighodalo)
By the 21st WHT deducted from payments to companies NRS Finance Commentary on current rules (Mondaq)
Later in the month, date to confirm WHT deducted from payments to individuals and unincorporated businesses State internal revenue service Finance Confirm with your state

The background to each item is in our guides to PAYE, pensions, NHF, NSITF and ITF, VAT and WHT.

The yearly dates

When What Paid or filed to Confidence
By 31 January Employer's annual PAYE return for the previous year State internal revenue service Section 14 of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025, as cited by state revenue services (Akwa Ibom notice). Some states have extended it, so watch for notices
By 1 April ITF levy (1% of the previous year's payroll) Industrial Training Fund From commentary (Proshare, Deloitte summary). Confirm with ITF

Company income tax has its own annual filing date, tied to your financial year end. Put it on the calendar once your adviser confirms it.

When a deadline falls on a weekend

Deadlines move around the week. 21 November 2026 is a Saturday, and 10 January 2027 is a Sunday. We found no single rule across the NRS and all state services on whether a weekend deadline moves to the next working day. The safe practice is simple: treat the last working day before the deadline as the deadline.

One month, worked through

Adebayo & Co. Logistics pays salaries on Wednesday 25 November 2026. Here's what Chiamaka Obi, the accountant, puts in the December diary:

Date Task Amount
Fri 4 December Pension to PFAs: the 7th working day after payday, counting Thursday 26 November as day one ₦2,486,700
Thu 10 December November PAYE to Lagos IRS ₦1,947,300
Early December (date confirmed with FMBN) NHF to FMBN ₦154,800
Early December (date confirmed with NSITF) NSITF ₦184,200
Fri 18 December November VAT return and payment (21 December is a Monday, but she files on Friday) ₦993,750
Fri 18 December November WHT to NRS ₦210,000

Public holidays affect the working-day count, so check the federal holiday list for the month.

Owners and evidence

A calendar without an owner per line is a wish list. For each row, record:

  • The owner, plus a named cover for when the owner is away.
  • The schedule: employee by employee for pension, PAYE and NHF; invoice by invoice for VAT and WHT.
  • Proof of payment: the bank or Remita reference.
  • The receipt or credit note from the authority, filed against the month.

Keep the evidence as long as the tax records it supports. Our guide to financial record-keeping covers how long that is.

A five-minute monthly check

On the last working day of each month, ask:

  1. Has every row for this month been paid, with a reference recorded?
  2. Have any receipts not arrived? Chase them now.
  3. Does any deadline next month fall on a weekend or holiday?
  4. Is the owner away? Is their cover briefed?
  5. Did any payroll or invoice change this month that alters a schedule?

How Flux helps

Flux Payroll calculates and tracks PAYE, pension, NHF, NSITF and ITF on every pay run and gives you statutory remittance views, so each schedule is ready when the date arrives. Pension and staff-loan schedules export to Excel. On the tax side, the cash-basis VAT report, the NRS Rev 360 return and WHT reports are in Tax & Reporting. Flux doesn't file or pay remittances on your behalf: your team pays, and keeps the proof.

This article is general information about Nigerian tax and employment rules as we understand them on 02 November 2026. It isn’t legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and rates change, and your situation may differ, so confirm with a qualified adviser or the relevant authority before you act.

Sources

  1. Know Your Taxes: The Tax Reforms and Your Statutory Filing Obligations – A Simplified Guide · Mondaq · accessed 02 November 2026
  2. Summary of VAT filing obligations under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 · Banwo & Ighodalo · accessed 02 November 2026
  3. How PenCom recovers outstanding pension contributions from employers · ThisDay · accessed 02 November 2026
  4. A'Ibom directs employers to submit 2025 tax returns by January 31 · Nigeria Startup Act · accessed 02 November 2026
  5. ITF filing deadline and compliance (Deloitte summary) · Proshare · accessed 02 November 2026
  6. Employees' Compensation Scheme: compensation · Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) · accessed 02 November 2026

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