The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) has given a March 31 deadline to all taxpayers in FCT to file their annual tax returns.

The Executive Chairman of the service, Abdullahi Attah, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.

He explained that the law required every taxable individual to file a tax return within 90 days after the end of the financial year.

The executive chairman said that taxpayers were mandated and expected to file the tax return between January and March 31 yearly.

“We have concluded an arrangement to send Short Message Service (SMS) to all  taxpayers in our database asking them to file their annual tax return.

“I am appealing to all residents of Abuja that are taxable to do their civic responsibility and I am happy to state that  at the highest level, very senior officials of government have started filing ahead of the March 31 deadline.

“Abuja is a big city, very modest city and expensive to maintain, the only way we can continue to keep Abuja of our dream is through taxation, so that we can be like Singapore and Dubai of this world,” he said.

He said the agency would continue to sensitise the citizens of the territory on the importance of paying tax, describing taxation as the most effective way to guarantee rapid development.

The FCT-IRS boss also decried how the discovery of crude oil in the country led to abandoning the culture of taxation.

Mr. Attah, however, reiterated his determination and commitment with his management team to continue to improve the revenue generation in the territory.