The Federal Inland Revenue Service FIRS has announced the extension of due date for the filing of the Value Added Tax VAT from April 21-30th, 2023.

This follows the recent introduction of a new process of claiming INPUT Tax, which took effect April 1, 2023 and consequent concerns raised by tax payers and other stakeholders.

According to a Public Notice signed by the Executive Chairman of the service, Muhammad Nami, the service said the Input VAT claim columns (Domestic Purchases & Import Purchases) and that of Deducted at Source will be open until midnight of 30th April 2023 to allow taxpayers to make all necessary input claims for the month of April. It also said that penalties and interest for failure to file by the extended due date will now apply to all returns filed after midnight of April 30, 2023.

The notice reads in part: “Following the introduction of a new process of claiming INPUT Tax which took effect from 1st April 2023, and the consequent concerns raised by tax- payers, this notice is to inform all taxpayers that the Service has graciously extended the VAT filing due date for April 2023 from midnight of 21st April 2023 to midnight of 30th April 2023.

“The Input VAT claim columns (Domestic Purchases & Import Purchases) and that of Deducted at Source will be open until midnight of 30th April 2023 to allow taxpayers to make all necessary input claims for the month of April, while penalties and interest for failure to file by the extended due date will now apply to all returns filed after midnight of 30th April 2023.

“This filing due date extension becomes expedient to enable taxpayers to meet the requirements of the newly introduced VAT input claim processes. This filing due date extension is only for the month of April 2023.”

He therefore enjoined all taxpayers to comply with the deadline to avoid penalties.