NRS vs SIRS (Federal vs State Tax Authorities)¶

Last reviewed: 2026-04-01

The Two Tax Authorities¶

Nigerian businesses deal with two separate tax authorities:

Authority	Full Name	Level	Taxes Collected
NRS	Nigeria Revenue Service (formerly FIRS)	Federal	VAT, WHT, CIT, CGT, Development Levy
SIRS	State Internal Revenue Service	State	PAYE, Direct Assessment, state levies

NRS (Formerly FIRS)¶

Renamed under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 (NTA 2025) from Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS)
Online portal: TaxPro-Max (used for VAT, WHT, CIT filings)
Payment platform: Remita (federal government's unified payment system)
Administers: VAT (7.5%), WHT, CIT (25%), CGT (25%), Development Levy (4%)

Throughout Finora's interface, you will see "NRS (Formerly FIRS)" — this acknowledges the rename while remaining searchable for users familiar with the old name.

SIRS (State Internal Revenue Services)¶

Each of Nigeria's 36 states + FCT has its own SIRS
Common names:
Lagos → LIRS (Lagos Internal Revenue Service) — etax.lirs.net
Abuja → FCTA IRS (Federal Capital Territory Administration IRS)
Rivers → RIRS (Rivers Internal Revenue Service)
Primary tax: PAYE (Pay As You Earn — employee income tax)
Also collects: Direct Assessment tax (for self-employed / informal sector), state levies

Which Authority for Which Tax?¶

Tax	Authority	Filing Frequency
VAT	NRS	Monthly (21st)
WHT	NRS	Monthly (21st)
CIT	NRS	Annual (6 months after year-end)
CGT	NRS	Event-driven
Development Levy	NRS	Annual
PAYE	SIRS	Monthly (10th)
CAC Annual Returns	CAC (not a tax authority)	Annual (42 days after AGM)

Common Agent Mistakes¶

Telling a customer to file PAYE with NRS — PAYE goes to SIRS, not NRS
Using "FIRS" instead of "NRS" — the correct name since 2026 is NRS
Confusing NRS TaxPro-Max with SIRS portals — they are separate systems
Assuming one filing covers everything — businesses may need to file with both NRS (VAT/WHT) and SIRS (PAYE) each month