Filing your return is not the end of the job. What you keep afterwards matters too, sometimes for years.
Why keeping records is a legal duty, not just good practice
Everyone must keep proper books, including people who owe no tax, and every taxable person must register and get a Tax ID. Keeping records is not an optional extra. This applies whether you are employed, self-employed, or somewhere in between.
Tax authorities can ask to see records well after the year in question has closed. A return you filed correctly three years ago is only as good as your ability to back it up if asked.
What to keep for at least six years
At least six years after the year of assessment is the general rule for records connected to your tax affairs. In practice, that means:
- Payslips, or your own income records if you are self-employed.
- Bank statements that support your declared income.
- Copies of every return you filed, and any acknowledgement the portal or office gave you.
- Proof of any tax actually paid, such as payment references or receipts.
A simple folder per tax year, kept for at least six years past that year, covers most of this without much effort.
Evidence you need if you claim a deduction
Pension, National Housing Fund and NHIS contributions, life assurance premiums, interest on a loan to build a home you live in, and rent relief. Each of these needs its own evidence, not just a mention on your return.
A tenancy agreement backs a rent relief claim. Contribution statements back a pension claim. Without the paperwork, a tax authority is entitled to query or refuse the claim later, even if it was genuinely true.
The penalty for not producing records on request
₦10,000 applies to a person, other than a company, who fails to keep proper records or fails to produce them when asked. It is a separate penalty from anything owed for late filing or unpaid tax.
This penalty exists precisely because a tax system depends on people being able to back up what they declared, not just declaring it. See the penalty for missing your return for the related penalties that apply to filing itself.
A simple filing habit that covers most of this
Start one folder, physical or digital, per tax year. Drop in payslips or income records as they arrive, save any deduction evidence the moment you gather it, and file your return confirmation the day you get it, rather than searching for everything at year end.
Six years of folders is not a large archive for most people, and it turns a records request from a scramble into a five-minute task. For the annual return this all supports, see filing your individual annual tax return, and browse the rest of this series in the PAYE and state tax hub.