Objectives An accurate exponentially fitted numerical method is developed to solve the singularly perturbed time lag problem. The solution to the problem exhibits a boundary layer as the perturbation parameter approaches zero. A priori bounds and properties of the continuous solution are discussed. Result The backward-Euler method is applied in the time direction and the higher order finite difference method is employed for the spatial derivative approximation. An exponential fitting factor is induced on the difference scheme for stabilizing the computed solution. Using the comparison principle, the stability of the method is examined and analyzed. It is proved that the method converges uniformly with linear order of convergence. To validate the theoretical findings and analysis, two test examples are given. Comparison is made with the results available in the literature. The proposed method has better accuracy than the schemes in the literature.