Don’t agree with your tax bill? Nigeria’s new law gives you 30 days to object

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Nigeria’s new tax laws are designed to move money faster from the economy to the government. But that process does not start with payment; it begins with self-assessment. Once a tax authority issues an assessment, a taxpayer must pay within 30 days or object, according to the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA) 2025.

This 30-day rule is central to the government’s plan to raise at least ₦17.85 trillion ($12.59 billion) in tax and customs revenue in 2026. By making taxpayers either challenge an assessment within a month or accept it as settled, the system shifts the burden of accuracy from the state to the individual, accelerating how money flows into public coffers.

For example, a freelancer earning between ₦4 million ($2,820.97) and ₦6 million ($4,231.46) monthly who is assessed above actual income and fails to object within 30 days is bound by that figure. They must pay, or face penalties and recovery actions.

For freelancers, remote workers, and content creators, many of whom will pay income taxes for the first time in 2026, the deadline may matter more than the tax rate itself. Once an assessment is issued, they must respond within a month or accept the bill as final. 

Controversies have trailed the implementation of Nigeria’s new tax laws, but states have begun to align with them, and the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has started work as the country’s central tax authority.

The reform aims to lift Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio from around 10% to 18% in 2027, largely by pulling more people into the tax net. Freelancers, remote workers, and content creators are central to this expansion. 

Globally, objection windows vary widely. In South Africa, taxpayers have 80 days. It is 90 days in Canada, four years in Australia, and 30 days in the United Kingdom.  

How assessment works

Unlike salaried workers, whose taxes are deducted before salaries ever hit their bank accounts, this new class of taxpayers must assess themselves.

Under the law, a taxable person is required to voluntarily declare income, file returns, and pay taxes due. The tax authority can then do one of three things: accept the return as filed; accept it but raise an additional assessment; or reject it entirely and issue its own assessment to the best of its judgment.

If a taxpayer fails to file at all, the tax authority will, to the best of its judgement determine the amount of the tax due.

While the law gives tax authorities broad discretion to determine what someone should pay, it also offers taxpayers an objection window of 30 days.

The 30-day window

Once an assessment is served, the taxpayer has 30 days to challenge it.

To be valid, the objection must be detailed and precise. It must spell out: the exact errors or disputed issues, with monetary values; the amendments requested; justification for those amendments; amount of assessable and total profits; the income or transaction values the taxpayer admits; and the amount of tax admitted, or a declaration that none is payable.

This layer of objection is largely evidence-based and often requires professional tax advice.

After receiving the objection, the tax authority can demand documents, summon witnesses, and request further evidence. If both sides agree, the assessment is revised and reissued, and a revised notice period, usually 30 days, is given.

In cases where the tax authority and the taxpayer disagree on the outcome of the objection, the taxpayer can appeal. The tax authority has 90 days to respond to all valid objections. If it fails to do so, the objection automatically succeeds.

When does a tax bill become final

An assessment becomes legally binding when no valid objection or appeal is filed within 30 days; the taxpayer agrees to the assessed income or profit; or the amount is confirmed after objection or appeal.

Failure to pay attracts penalties, including at least 10% interest on tax owed, and gives the tax authority power to appoint the taxpayer’s bank as a recovery agent.

After assessments, tax authorities are required to maintain assessment lists containing the names and addresses of the taxable persons assessed to tax.

The name and address of any person in whose name any such taxable person is chargeable; the amount of the total profits of each person; the amount of tax payable by the person; and any other documentation determined by the tax authority.

Taxes depend on proof. Taxpayers are taxed not just on what they earn, but on what they can document.

For millions of first-time taxpayers in 2026, the difference between a fair assessment and an inflated one is a paper trail: bank statements, invoices, contracts, and receipts.