Most delays with a tax clearance certificate trace back to one missing document, not a difficult process. This checklist covers what to gather first, so nothing surfaces as a surprise partway through.
Work down it before you touch the application form itself.
Your Tax ID, matched to your CAC record
Every application starts with your company's Tax ID, which is matched to its CAC registration number. Look yours up at taxid.nrs.gov.ng if you do not already have it to hand.
Check the organisation type and registration number on the portal against your actual CAC record. A small difference here, an old address or a director change not yet updated, is enough to stall an application later.
Three years of returns, filed and assessed
A TCC reports on the three years of assessment before the current year, so gather these for each of those years:
- Companies Income Tax (CIT) returns, filed and assessed.
- Monthly VAT returns for every month, including nil returns where nothing was sold.
- Withholding tax (WHT) returns filed and remitted.
Filed is not the same as assessed. If a return is sitting with the tax office awaiting review, treat that year as unfinished until the assessment comes back.
Accounts for those years, and the small company exception
Alongside the returns, you need accounts covering the same period. The general expectation is audited financial statements, but a small company can instead prepare a statement of accounts attested to by the company instead of audited financial statements.
This exception is worth checking with your accountant before you assume it applies, since it depends on meeting the small-company definition set out in what is a tax clearance certificate.
Assessment notices and an authorisation letter
Pull together the latest CIT assessment notice, since the application usually asks for it directly. If your accountant issued it, that copy works; if not, the tax office that handles your file can reissue one.
If someone other than a director is submitting on the company's behalf, an authorisation letter needs to go in alongside everything else. Missing this is a small thing that still stops a file moving.
What to gather first if something is missing
Work through the checklist in this order if you are starting from scratch:
- Confirm the Tax ID and CAC details match.
- Chase any unfiled return for the three years covered.
- Settle any balance the assessment shows as outstanding.
- Prepare or request the accounts and the latest assessment notice.
- Only then complete the application itself.
Fixing gaps in this order avoids the common mistake of submitting first and discovering the problem only once the tax office returns the file with a query.
Once the checklist is clear, the online application guide walks through the form itself, or you can start on the tax clearance certificate page and let a vetted partner firm take the paperwork from here.