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FCT-IRS tax clearance certificate: a documents checklist

An FCT-IRS tax clearance certificate needs Form A, the Form 802 application, ID and three years of payslips. Here is the full checklist.

2 min readBy the Docufy editorial team

Quick answer

As an employee, an FCT-IRS tax clearance certificate needs a completed Form A annual return, the Form 802 TCC application, ID, and payslips for the previous three years (or a bank statement). Your employer also has its own filings to have completed first. This is an FCT-IRS certificate, separate from the federal tax clearance certificate the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), formerly FIRS, issues.

Who this covers
Employees applying through FCT-IRS
Core forms
Form A (annual return) and Form 802 (application)
Payslip years needed
The previous three years
Federal equivalent
A separate document, from the NRS
On this page

A tax clearance certificate from FCT-IRS is not the federal one. It asks for its own set of papers. This is the checklist for an employee applying through FCT-IRS.

Who this checklist is for

This is for an employee who lives in the Federal Capital Territory. It follows the same rule that decides your tax authority in the first place: the tax authority of the state where the employee lives. See which state you pay tax to if you are not sure that is you.

A self-employed applicant, or a company applying for its own certificate, faces a different checklist. This guide does not cover either of those.

The documents FCT-IRS asks an employee to bring

FCT-IRS's own list for an employee is a completed Form A annual return, the Form 802 TCC application, ID, and payslips for the previous three years (or a bank statement).

On top of the core forms, bring evidence of any pension, housing fund, NHIS or life assurance deductions you are claiming. Bring your FCT-IRS Tax ID too. Renewing rather than applying fresh? Bring the old certificate as well.

The payslip years matter more than they look. FCT-IRS wants January, April, September and December payslips from each of the three years. Four payslips from other months may not do.

What your employer has to have filed first

Your own paperwork is not the whole story. FCT-IRS also expects your employer to have filed its own annual return. It expects proof that PAYE was actually paid over, too.

If your employer is behind on either one, perfect paperwork on your side still will not be enough. Ask payroll to check both before you start gathering your own documents.

How this differs from the federal tax clearance certificate

FCT-IRS issues its own certificate. It covers your tax position with FCT-IRS alone. The federal tax clearance certificate is a different document, issued by the NRS, for a different tax relationship.

Which certificate a tender or a bank asks for depends on who is asking, so check with them first. Which agency issues an individual's tax clearance certificate compares several states, FCT-IRS included, against the federal certificate.

Need the federal certificate instead? Start a tax clearance certificate request on your phone. Docufy does not handle FCT-IRS's own certificate, or any state's.

What to do if a document is missing

One missing payslip is not fatal on its own. FCT-IRS's own checklist allows a bank statement in its place. Ask the office handling your case whether that covers your particular gap.

For anything genuinely missing, such as a defunct old employer, raise it with FCT-IRS directly. A certificate application built on guessed documents causes more delay than an honest query does. For the rest of this series, see the PAYE and state tax hub.

Questions people ask

What is Form 802?

It is FCT-IRS's own tax clearance certificate application form, one of the documents in a completed Form A annual return, the Form 802 TCC application, ID, and payslips for the previous three years (or a bank statement).

Does my employer need to do anything before I apply?

Yes. FCT-IRS also expects the employer to have filed its own annual return and its evidence of PAYE paid, so a certificate application can stall if that filing is missing, even when your own documents are complete.

Is an FCT-IRS certificate the same as the federal tax clearance certificate?

No. They come from different authorities and cover different taxes. See which agency issues an individual's tax clearance certificate for the broader comparison across states.

What if I am missing a payslip from one of the three years?

FCT-IRS accepts a bank statement as an alternative to a payslip, according to its own checklist. Ask the FCT-IRS office handling your application whether that covers your particular gap.

Sources

Last checked 27 Sep 2026. Fees and rules change; the agency that issues the document has the final word. See our editorial policy.

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