Know your counterparties
Set a policy for customer and supplier tax identification numbers (TINs) by transaction type: optional, warn or required. The check is advisory. It warns you and does not block a posting.
2025 Tax Hub
Not sure how VAT and WHT flow?
For owners and accountants setting up VAT and withholding tax in Simplebks.
Simplebks calculates VAT and WHT on your records and reports them. It does not file returns.
By Simplebks Growth Team.
The 2025 Tax Hub: VAT and WHT reporting in Simplebks
This is the home for VAT and withholding tax (WHT) in Simplebks: how to set them up, how they flow through your sales and purchases, and which reports show what you owe and what was withheld.
Simplebks calculates VAT and WHT on your records and reports them. It does not file returns or submit anything to the tax authority. The tax engine is on the Professional and Enterprise plans. Confirm the rates and rules that apply to your business with your tax adviser.
VAT in Simplebks
- A 7.5 percent starting rate. The Nigerian tax setup starts VAT at 7.5 percent, and you can change the rate in your tax types.
- Choose how VAT applies. Set VAT as exclusive or inclusive of the price, once, for your business.
- Mark items by tax class. Each product or service can be taxable, exempt, zero-rated or out of scope. Apply a class to your whole catalogue at once, or map items, categories and services one by one.
- VAT is priced where you sell and buy. POS sales, invoices and purchases use your tax settings. On an expense you enter the input VAT yourself, because Simplebks does not add VAT to expenses.
- The VAT Summary report shows output VAT, input VAT, the amount debited to VAT payable and net VAT due, by day, month or year, with a CSV export. "Debited to VAT payable" is every debit posted to your VAT payable account in the period: your VAT remittances and any reversals or adjustments.
- VAT by branch. With more than one branch, see tax by outlet in the Locations report.
To work out VAT on a single price, use the free VAT Calculator.
Withholding tax in Simplebks
- Rates by payment class. Simplebks includes default WHT rates for eleven Nigerian payment classes, listed below. Change any rate for your business, and Simplebks uses your rate on invoices, purchases and expenses in that class.
- WHT on invoices. Pick the payment class and the withheld amount comes off the balance your customer owes. If your customer will deduct WHT themselves, tick the box and Simplebks records the withholding receivable.
- WHT on purchases. Withholding is worked out on supplier purchases, purchase orders and expenses.
- WHT certificates. Download or view a certificate from an invoice or a purchase order.
- The WHT Summary report totals the tax withheld in the period.
Default WHT rates by payment class
| Payment class | Default rate |
|---|---|
| Professional services | 5 percent |
| Management consultancy | 5 percent |
| Technical services | 5 percent |
| Commission | 5 percent |
| Rent | 10 percent |
| Royalty | 10 percent |
| Interest | 10 percent |
| Dividend | 10 percent |
| Directors fees | 15 percent |
| Construction contracts | 2 percent |
| General goods and services | 2 percent |
These are the defaults Simplebks starts with. Each row in Settings shows whether it is your own rate or the suggested default, so you can edit or reset it. Rates can differ by recipient, for example royalty paid to an individual, so check the rate that applies to each payment with your tax adviser.
The tax reports
| Report | What it shows |
|---|---|
| VAT Summary | Output VAT, input VAT, debited to VAT payable and net VAT due, by day, month or year |
| Tax Summary | VAT, WHT and consumption tax together, by type |
| WHT Summary | Tax withheld in the period |
| Consumption Tax Summary | Consumption tax, if you use it |
Export the reports to CSV. Viewing tax reports needs the tax reports permission, so you decide who sees them.
Set it up in six steps
- 1. Open the tax settings page (titled Tax Compliance in the app) and activate it.
- 2. Choose which tax types you use: VAT, WHT, consumption tax or your own.
- 3. Set VAT as exclusive or inclusive.
- 4. Mark your products and services taxable, exempt or zero-rated. Apply one class to everything first, then change the exceptions.
- 5. Review the WHT rate for each payment class and edit any that differ for your business.
- 6. Run the readiness check, then review your VAT and WHT reports each month.
Every change to your tax settings is recorded in an audit list, so you can see who changed what.
Which plan includes it
The VAT and WHT tax engine, classes, rates, certificates and reports are on Professional and Enterprise. Below Professional only hand-filled tax fields post and nothing is calculated. See Plans and Pricing.
Guides
More plain guides for small business owners are in Business Guides.
FAQ
Does Simplebks calculate VAT?
Yes, on the Professional and Enterprise plans. VAT is priced on POS sales, invoices and purchases from your tax settings, starting from 7.5 percent in the Nigerian tax setup. You can change the rate.
Can I mark some products as VAT exempt or zero-rated?
Yes. Each product or service can be taxable, exempt, zero-rated or out of scope, and you can apply a class to your whole catalogue at once.
Does Simplebks handle withholding tax?
Yes. It has default rates for eleven Nigerian payment classes, applies them to invoices, purchases and expenses, and produces WHT certificates from invoices and purchase orders. You can change any rate for your business.
What if my customer deducts WHT before paying me?
Tick that on the invoice and choose the payment class. Simplebks takes the withheld amount off the balance due and records the withholding receivable.
Which report shows how much VAT I owe?
The VAT Summary report shows output VAT, input VAT, the amount debited to VAT payable and net VAT due, by day, month or year.
Does Simplebks file my VAT or WHT returns?
No. Simplebks calculates and reports your VAT and WHT. It does not file returns or submit anything to the tax authority.
Can I export the tax reports?
Yes. The tax reports export to CSV.
Which plan do I need for VAT and WHT?
Professional or Enterprise. See Plans and Pricing.
Start free, then move to Professional when you are ready to price VAT and WHT.