Ask an individual where their tax clearance certificate comes from. A lot of people guess the NRS. That guess is wrong, and it sends people to the wrong office.
Personal income tax runs through the states. So does the certificate that proves you have paid it.
The split: personal tax certificates come from your state
A company's certificate covers Companies Income Tax, VAT and withholding tax. The NRS issues that one. An individual pays personal income tax instead, usually through PAYE or direct assessment. That sits with a state revenue board, not the NRS.
This split trips people up all the time. Both documents share the same name and the same basic idea. But they are not issued by the same office, and one cannot stand in for the other.
A quick comparison across states
Every state runs its own version of the same certificate, with its own portal and its own process. A few documented examples:
| State body | How it works |
|---|---|
| Lagos (LIRS) | An e-TCC through the e-Tax platform, once annual returns filed on e-Tax for the last three years and all assessed tax for those years paid |
| FCT-IRS | Processes a request in 14 days, valid until 31 December of the year it is issued |
| Edo State (EIRS) | Runs its own online check at eras.eirs.gov.ng/VerifyTCC/List |
| Delta State (DSIRS) | Covers the three years before the year of application |
| Kaduna (KADIRS) | log in to the KADIRS portal, file your annual returns and settle all tax for the past three years, then download the TCC once it is approved |
The details differ, but the shape is the same everywhere: filed returns, settled tax, then a certificate.
What stays the same everywhere
Three things repeat across almost every state version: a rolling three-year look-back, a requirement that returns be filed and tax settled before issue, and an annual renewal once the certificate lapses.
If you already know how the federal TCC works, this pattern will feel familiar. What a tax clearance certificate shows explains that underlying shape in more detail.
What a company's federal TCC carries that an individual's does not
A company's certificate reports on business taxes: CIT, VAT and WHT together. An individual's state certificate reports only on personal income tax. Neither one replaces the other. That is true even for a director who also wants proof of their own personal compliance.
Sole traders and business names sit in an interesting middle ground here. Our separate article on TCCs for sole proprietors and business names covers that case.
Which one a tender desk or embassy is actually asking for
Read the request carefully before you apply for either one. A tender pack usually wants the company's federal TCC. A visa officer or a personal loan application more often wants the state-issued version instead.
If you need the federal certificate for a company, the tax clearance certificate page is where a vetted partner firm can take that on, and our NRS tax hub covers the federal Tax ID that sits behind it.