The Lagos State government has further extended the deadline for filing of annual tax returns to June 30, 2020. This is continuation of its effort to provide the much-needed relief to taxpayers and mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Annual returns for individuals (both employees and self-employed persons) that were initially due on May 31, 2020 can now be filed any time on or before June 30, 2020, the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) announced on Tuesday.
The deadline for the filing of the tax returns had earlier been extended to May 31, 2020 from its statutory March 31.
“As the Lagos State government keeps abreast of global best practices in containing the Covid-19 pandemic and eases the effects of an economic downturn on taxpayers and residents of the state, LIRS had initially extended the deadline for filing annual tax returns for two months, from the statutory March 31 of every fiscal year to May 31, 2020,” said Ayodele Subair, executive chairman of LIRS.
“We constantly debated what other measures could be taken as an organisation to support individuals and businesses at this time, hence, the additional one-month extension from June 1 to June 30, 2020. It is our sincere hope that taxpayers take advantage of this new extension to duly file their returns,” Subair said.
Businesses and income-earning individuals have been seriously hit by the pandemic, and the latest extension is expected to create some room to readjust, as the economy begins to breathe following the phased reopening of the lockdown in the last three weeks.
LIRS has, therefore, encouraged taxpayers to access the LIRS eTax platforms for all tax administration matters, including filing of annual returns, generation of assessment and payment schedule and payment of the liabilities from the comfort of their homes and offices. All that they have to do is to simply log on to the e-Tax platform via https://etax.lirs.net.
The Lagos tax agency said updates on business operations and alternative payment platforms of the service can be obtained by visiting the LIRS website, www.lirs.gov.ng, checking its various social media platforms or calling the LIRS Customer Care Centre on 0700 CALL LIRS (0700-2255-5477).
It appealed to residents of Lagos to support the efforts of the state government and the Covid-19 Incident Commander for Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, by adhering strictly to the COVID-19 safety guidelines as issued by relevant health authorities.
