E-invoicing: NRS issues deadline for compliance

The National Revenue Service (NRS) has given large taxpayers until July 31 to fully comply with Nigeria’s mandatory electronic invoicing regime, extending the implementation timeline as it steps up monitoring of compliance across affected companies.

Beyond regulatory sanctions, businesses that fail to comply with the e-invoicing regime face significant financial consequences. In addition to a N200,000 penalty for every non-compliant transaction, invoices that do not pass through the NRS platform may not qualify for VAT input credit claims or tax-deductible expense treatment, increasing the tax burden on affected companies.

The new deadline replaces the earlier June 30 implementation date, which saw many companies racing to complete onboarding and systems integration with the NRS Merchant Buyer Solution (MBS).

In a public notice signed by Zacch Adedeji, chairman of the NRS, the tax authority directed all large taxpayers to complete onboarding, integration, testing, and commence invoice transmission to the national e-invoicing platform in line with the prescribed implementation framework.

The notice follows the implementation timeline issued by the NRS on February 17, 2026, making electronic invoicing mandatory for companies with annual turnover of N5 billion and above.

According to the statement issued on Sunday by Dare Adekanmbi, special adviser on media to the NRS chairman, the agency has already commenced compliance monitoring to assess the level of adherence among large taxpayers.

“NRS has already commenced compliance monitoring activities in order to assess the level of adherence to the e-invoicing mandate among large taxpayers,” the statement said.

It added that defaulting companies could face regulatory and enforcement actions in line with the provisions of relevant tax laws and regulations.

The NRS urged affected companies to conclude all outstanding onboarding and integration activities and begin transmitting invoices before the July 31 deadline.

To achieve full compliance, businesses are expected to complete onboarding on the NRS Merchant Buyer Solution, integrate their systems through approved Access Point Providers (APPs) or Systems Integrators (SIs), complete all validation and testing requirements, begin transmitting invoices to the NRS platform and ensure they receive only compliant electronic invoices carrying valid Invoice Reference Numbers (RINs) from suppliers.

The extension follows concerns raised by businesses ahead of the earlier June 30 deadline over the complexity of integrating existing accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems with the NRS platform. Industry experts had also warned that implementation could take several months, depending on a company’s level of system readiness, data quality and testing requirements.

Tax professionals had further cautioned that companies failing to comply risk more than regulatory sanctions, as only invoices successfully transmitted through the NRS platform qualify for Value Added Tax (VAT) input credit claims, potentially increasing tax costs for affected businesses.

As of the first phase of implementation, more than 1,000 companies had completed compliance, although industry estimates indicate that about 5,000 large companies are expected to come under the first phase of the rollout.

The electronic invoicing programme is one of the flagship initiatives under Nigeria’s tax reform agenda and is designed to improve tax transparency, reduce revenue leakages and provide tax authorities with real-time visibility into commercial transactions. Medium-sized businesses with annual turnover of between N1 billion and N5 billion are expected to come under the regime in the next phase of implementation, while smaller businesses will be brought into the system subsequently.