Why deadlines matter more than you think
Nigerian payroll is not just about computing salaries correctly. It is also about remitting statutory deductions to the right agencies on time. Miss a deadline by even a few days and you face penalties, interest charges, and in some cases enforcement action that can freeze your company's bank accounts. The good news is that the calendar is predictable. Once you know the dates, staying compliant becomes a matter of routine rather than guesswork.
This guide lays out every monthly and annual filing obligation that Nigerian employers need to track, along with the receiving agency for each one.
Monthly filing obligations
Most of your payroll filing activity happens on a monthly cycle. The table below shows each obligation, its deadline, and the agency you remit to.
| Obligation | Deadline | Remit to |
|---|---|---|
| PAYE (income tax) | 10th of the following month | State Internal Revenue Service (SIRS) |
| Pension contributions | Last working day of the current month | Each employee's Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) |
| NSITF (employee compensation) | Last day of the following month | Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) |
| NHF (housing fund) | Last day of the following month | Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) |
The pension deadline is worth noting carefully. Unlike the others, pension must be remitted in the same month the salary is earned, not the month after. If you run January payroll, the pension contribution for that month must reach the PFA by the last working day of January. Many employers trip up here because they assume it follows the same next-month pattern as PAYE.
PAYE is remitted to the SIRS in the state where each employee physically works. If you have employees spread across Lagos, Abuja, and Rivers, you may need to file with three separate state revenue services every month. Each state has its own payment portal, and some still require physical filing alongside the electronic submission.
Annual filing obligations
On top of the monthly cycle, employers have three annual obligations to manage.
| Obligation | Deadline | Remit to |
|---|---|---|
| Annual PAYE return | 31 January of the following year | State Internal Revenue Service (SIRS) |
| ITF contribution (1% of annual payroll) | 1 April of the following year | Industrial Training Fund (ITF) |
| Annual pension compliance certificate | Varies by PFA | National Pension Commission (PenCom) |
The annual PAYE return is a reconciliation document. It summarises all PAYE deducted and remitted during the tax year, broken down by employee. The SIRS compares this against your monthly filings, and any discrepancy will trigger audit queries. Getting it right means keeping clean records throughout the year, not scrambling in January to reconstruct twelve months of data.
ITF applies to employers with five or more employees or an annual turnover above ₦50 million. The contribution is 1% of the total annual payroll, due by 1 April of the following year. It is a single annual payment, not a monthly one, which makes it easy to overlook until the deadline has passed.
The pension compliance certificate confirms that an employer has been remitting pension contributions correctly throughout the year. PenCom requires this for government contract bids and certain regulatory filings. The exact process and timeline vary depending on your PFA, so it is worth checking with them early in the year.
Penalties for late filing
The consequences of missing payroll filing deadlines in Nigeria are not theoretical. Late PAYE remittance attracts a penalty of 10% of the amount due, plus interest at the Central Bank of Nigeria's prevailing rate. Some states impose additional administrative penalties on top of the statutory ones.
Late pension remittance carries a penalty of 2% of the outstanding contribution for each month the payment is delayed. Given that pension involves both the employer's 10% and the employee's 8%, the base amount is already significant, and the 2% monthly penalty compounds quickly.
NSITF and NHF late payments attract their own penalty schedules, which vary by agency. ITF non-compliance can result in the employer being denied access to the Industrial Training Fund's reimbursement schemes, which defeats the purpose of the levy.
Beyond the financial penalties, persistent non-compliance can lead to more serious enforcement. The SIRS has the power to apply for court orders to freeze a company's bank accounts. PenCom can sanction employers and report them to regulators. None of this is common for first-time delays, but repeated or large-scale non-compliance draws attention quickly.
How SpireSlip helps you stay on time
SpireSlip tracks every filing deadline automatically. After each payroll run, the system generates filing schedules for PAYE, pension, NSITF, and NHF, showing exactly what is owed, to which agency, and by when. You do not need to maintain a separate calendar or manually calculate due dates.
SpireSlip also sends deadline alerts before each due date, giving you enough lead time to review the amounts and initiate the remittance. When the annual PAYE return comes around in January, the data is already there, reconciled against every monthly filing you made during the year. No spreadsheets, no reconstruction, and no last-minute surprises.