Ngozi runs a printing business in Port Harcourt with annual revenue above ₦100 million. She registered for VAT as required by the Finance Act 2025, and every month she needs to file a VAT return with the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) by the 21st of the month.
If she misses it, the penalty is 5% of the tax due per month — and it compounds. A ₦200,000 VAT liability that goes unfiled for three months becomes a ₦230,000 problem (₦200,000 + ₦10,000 + ₦10,500 + ₦10,500 approximately, with interest).
This guide explains exactly what a VAT return involves, how to calculate it, and how to keep your records in order so filing is not a scramble every month.
Under the Finance Act 2025, you must register for VAT and file monthly returns if your business has annual turnover above ₦100 million.
Important: The ₦100 million threshold is the correct figure under the Finance Act 2025. Earlier guidance cited ₦25 million — that figure is outdated. Confirm with a qualified tax adviser if you are near the threshold.
If your turnover is below ₦100 million, you are not required to charge or remit VAT, though some businesses choose to register voluntarily. Consult a tax professional for your specific situation.
A VAT return is not complicated in principle. You are calculating one thing:
Net VAT payable = Output VAT − Input VAT
If your output VAT is higher than your input VAT, you pay the difference to NRS. If your input VAT is higher (rare but possible), you have an input VAT credit you can carry forward.
Step 1 — Total your taxable sales for the month
Add up all revenue from sales where you charged VAT at 7.5%. This is your VAT-taxable turnover for the month.
Example: Ngozi's printing business invoiced ₦4,000,000 in March.
Step 2 — Calculate your output VAT
Output VAT = Taxable sales × 7.5%
Output VAT = ₦4,000,000 × 7.5% = ₦300,000
Step 3 — Total your qualifying business expenses
Add up purchases on which you paid VAT to your suppliers — materials, equipment, services used for your business. Not all expenses qualify; personal expenses and some exempt items do not.
Example: Ngozi paid ₦1,200,000 for paper, ink, and printing supplies — all VAT-inclusive.
Step 4 — Calculate your input VAT
Input VAT = VAT-inclusive purchases ÷ 1.075 × 0.075
Or more simply, if your supplier's invoices show the VAT separately:
Input VAT = Sum of VAT shown on all supplier invoices
Example: ₦1,200,000 ÷ 1.075 × 7.5% = ₦83,721 (approximately)
Step 5 — Calculate net VAT payable
Net VAT payable = ₦300,000 − ₦83,721 = ₦216,279
Ngozi remits ₦216,279 to NRS by the 21st of April (for the March return).
The calculation above takes five minutes — if your records are in order. The hard part is finding all the numbers when you have not been tracking.
For output VAT (what you charged): every invoice you issue should show the VAT amount separately. Lucrive does this automatically — the invoice PDF separates the subtotal, VAT (7.5%), and total.
For input VAT (what you paid): keep every supplier receipt and invoice that shows VAT was charged. Record the VAT amount separately, not just the total.
At the end of each month, you should be able to pull both totals from your records in under 10 minutes.
Lucrive's Tax Compliance Centre (available on Professional and Enterprise plans) has a VAT Prep section that does this automatically.
It reads:
It also shows a penalty estimate if your filing date has passed, so you know the cost of delay before you call your accountant.
Note: Lucrive's VAT prep figures are calculated estimates based on the records you have entered. Before filing with NRS, confirm the figures with a qualified tax adviser — there may be exempt items, disallowed input claims, or adjustments your adviser will catch.
You can export the summary as a PDF from the Tax Compliance Centre to share with your accountant.
NRS charges 5% of the tax payable per month for late VAT returns, plus interest. There is no grace period — the 21st is the hard deadline.
If your net VAT for a month is ₦216,279 and you file two months late:
The penalty compounds, so the cost of delay grows quickly. The simplest way to avoid it: set a recurring reminder for the 14th of each month to prepare your return, giving yourself a week before the 21st deadline.
Not all sales attract 7.5% VAT. Some goods and services are VAT-exempt (no VAT charged, no VAT credit claimed) and some are zero-rated (VAT charged at 0%). If your business has a mix of taxable and exempt supplies, the input VAT calculation is more complex — you can only claim input credit on the portion of expenses used for taxable supplies.
This is where a tax adviser earns their fee. The calculation above works cleanly for businesses with only standard-rated (7.5%) supplies.
Your output VAT figure depends entirely on the invoices you have issued. If your invoices show the VAT amount clearly and separately from the subtotal, your monthly output VAT calculation takes minutes. Lucrive does this automatically on every invoice it generates — the PDF separates the pre-VAT subtotal, the VAT line at 7.5%, and the total.
If you also record your business receipts (supplier invoices and bills) in Lucrive, the input VAT is also available from your records. The Tax Compliance Centre reads both automatically — you select the month and it calculates the net.
For businesses that are not yet issuing formal invoices through a system, the most common problem at VAT filing time is discovering that the invoices issued did not separate the VAT — they just showed a total. That makes reconstructing the VAT component difficult. The correct habit is to issue every invoice with VAT shown as a separate line. For guidance on invoicing, see How to Send a Professional Invoice in Nigeria.
When you file your monthly VAT return — in practice, through your tax adviser or directly via the NRS portal — you will need to provide:
You do not need to attach every invoice and receipt to the return — those are supporting documents you keep in your own records. But they must exist and must be producible if the NRS audits you.
Keep your invoice records and receipt records for a minimum of six years. This is both the NRS requirement and good practice — VAT audit assessments can go back that far.
Lucrive's VAT Prep tool does not file the return for you — it prepares the figures. The usual workflow is:
This saves the preparation time your accountant would otherwise bill for, while keeping a professional in the loop for the compliance step.
VAT compliance is one of the non-negotiable obligations for registered businesses in Nigeria. The calculation is straightforward — the challenge is building the habit of tracking invoices and receipts every month so the numbers are available when you need them.
Open the Tax Compliance Centre in Lucrive →
Sources & further reading