A VAT refund is not automatic. It starts with a request, inside a specific window, and the clock runs from the transaction itself.
Missing that starting point is the single easiest way to lose a claim that would otherwise have been valid.
When a refund situation arises
A refund becomes relevant when recoverable input VAT is higher than the output VAT charged in a period, leaving a credit rather than a balance due. Our guide to input VAT recovery explains how that credit builds up.
Exporters and businesses that mostly sell zero-rated supplies run into this often, since they charge little or no output VAT while still paying input VAT on their costs. A business selling only standard-rated goods domestically sees it far less.
The window for asking, measured from the transaction
12 months after the transaction. That clock starts from the transaction itself, not from when you get round to filing the paperwork, so a delayed claim can lapse before you even submit it.
How long the NRS then has to pay
Once a valid request is in, 30 days. That is the government's own deadline for settling a properly made claim.
What happens if that deadline passes
Where the NRS does not pay inside its own timeline, the amount can be set off against other tax you owe instead of being paid out in cash. That keeps the credit alive in another form, even if a direct refund does not land.
Keep a record of when you submitted the request. That date is what any later query about the timeline will be measured against.
A simple example
Here is a made-up example. A business has ₦400,000 of recoverable input VAT in a month where it only charged ₦250,000 in output VAT.
That leaves a ₦150,000 credit. The business can request a cash refund within 12 months after the transaction, or simply carry the ₦150,000 forward to reduce what it owes next month.
The alternative to a cash refund
Not every business wants to chase a cash refund at all. Carrying the excess forward as a credit against a future VAT return is a simpler route for a business that expects to owe VAT again soon.
A business that regularly exports, or mostly sells zero-rated supplies, is more likely to sit in a permanent credit position than one selling standard-rated goods domestically. Recognising that pattern early makes the choice between a refund and a carried-forward credit easier to plan around.
Both routes start from the same reconciliation: output VAT against recoverable input VAT, filed through selfservice.nrs.gov.ng. Our exempt-versus-zero-rated guide is worth checking too, since only a zero-rated or standard-rated supply generates the kind of input VAT credit a refund is built on. For the return itself, see the VAT monthly return guide.