The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service has given Lagos taxpayers a two-week lifeline after the initial deadline of March 31

The LIRS announced the extension of the individual annual income tax filing deadline from April 1 to April 14, 2026, after its eTax portal collapsed under pressure just hours before the original March 31 cutoff.

Thousands of taxpayers found themselves staring at error messages, unable to access the platform or complete their submissions despite hours of trying.

For a tax authority that has fully phased out manual filings and requires all returns to be submitted exclusively through the eTax portal at etax.lirs.net, a system failure at the worst possible moment was not just an inconvenience. It was a crisis.

A Deadline, a Broken Portal, and a Very Online Frustration

The timing could not have been worse. March 31 is the legally mandated annual deadline for individual income tax returns in Lagos State and other states across Nigeria.

As the clock ticked toward it, the LIRS eTax portal began malfunctioning, with users reporting persistent errors during document submission and widespread inability to even log in.

Frustrated taxpayers did what Nigerians do when institutions fail them — they went to social media.

The concerns were legitimate and pointed: how do you penalise someone for missing a deadline when the only approved submission channel was the thing that stopped working?

LIRS Executive Chairman Dr. Ayodele Subair responded with a formal statement acknowledging the difficulties and announcing the April 14 extension.

He described it as an opportunity for individuals to complete and submit accurate returns, and used the moment to remind taxpayers that compliance with annual filing should be a routine personal practice, not something attempted in a panic on the final day.

Dr. Subair also urged users to verify that their Tax ID is correctly entered when using the platform, which he described as secure, user-friendly, and available around the clock.

Whether the taxpayers who spent hours unable to access it last week would agree with that description is another matter entirely.

Who This Applies To

The filing requirement covers every income earner in Lagos State without exception, self-employed individuals, business owners, professionals, informal sector workers, and salaried employees already under the Pay-As-You-Earn system.

PAYE does not exempt anyone from filing an annual return. It simply means tax has already been deducted at source. The return still needs to be submitted.

The penalties for missing the original March 31 deadline, administrative fines, interest charges, and enforcement measures under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025, remain on the table for anyone who fails to file by April 14. The extension is a relief and not a sign of amnesia from the state government.

If you are a Lagos taxpayer who has not yet filed, the portal is at etax.lirs.net. April 14 is the new line. Do not test whether it holds.