NRS, DigiTax push e-Invoicing as key to boosting tax compliance, blocking revenue leakages

The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has reiterated that the nationwide rollout of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) will significantly strengthen tax compliance, curb revenue leakages and deepen transparency in the country’s tax administration system, as authorities intensify preparations for full implementation by 2028.

Speaking at the DigiTax E-Invoicing Compliance Breakfast Session in Lagos on Tuesday, Mohammed Bawa, Project Lead of the NRS E-Invoicing Project, said the initiative represents a major milestone in Nigeria’s drive to modernise tax administration and improve revenue collection through digital technology.

The event, organised by DigiTax, an NRS-accredited e-invoicing platform, forms part of the agency’s nationwide awareness and stakeholder engagement campaign aimed at preparing businesses for the mandatory adoption of e-invoicing.

Bawa said the initiative aligns with global best practices in tax digitisation and is expected to help Nigeria improve its tax-to-GDP ratio, which remains one of the lowest in Africa.

According to him, the system will provide the NRS with real-time visibility into business transactions across sectors, reduce opportunities for tax evasion and invoice fraud, and bring more operators within the informal economy into the formal tax net.

He explained that the platform would standardise invoice formats nationwide using internationally recognised invoice schemas, enabling seamless exchange of tax information while improving operational efficiency for businesses and tax authorities alike.

“The transition is not merely about replacing paper invoices with electronic ones; it is about moving from fragmented manual and electronic processes to a fully automated, system-to-system tax administration model,” Bawa said.

He noted that the legal foundation for the initiative is contained in the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, which prescribes sanctions for taxpayers that fail to comply with the e-invoicing requirements.

Bawa disclosed that the NRS had completed the onboarding phase for large taxpayers and was now preparing enforcement actions against entities yet to comply.

He said medium-sized taxpayers are expected to begin compliance in the third quarter of 2026, while emerging taxpayers will be onboarded from 2027, with full nationwide adoption targeted by the end of 2028.

Also speaking, Olumide Akinsola, Country Director of DigiTax Nigeria, urged businesses to look beyond their internal systems and assess the compliance readiness of their suppliers and business partners.

According to him, businesses whose suppliers fail to transmit invoices through the Merchant Buyer Solution (MBS) platform risk losing the ability to claim Value Added Tax (VAT) input credits on such transactions.

He described the issue as a significant supply-chain compliance risk that many organisations have yet to fully appreciate.
Akinsola also unveiled DigiTax’s latest whitepaper, The State of E-Invoicing Readiness in Nigeria, which examines adoption trends, implementation challenges and compliance gaps across different taxpayer categories.

He noted that DigiTax operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and the United Arab Emirates, adding that experiences from those markets show that businesses that embrace e-invoicing early are better positioned to avoid operational disruptions when enforcement begins.

Alexander Ogunsina, IT Project Manager at D’Accubin Solutions, said Nigeria’s e-invoicing framework has been developed in line with internationally accepted standards, including PEPPOL, BIS 3.0 and UBL 2.1.

According to him, compliance with these standards will ensure Nigerian electronic invoices are interoperable with global trading systems, thereby facilitating cross-border commerce and improving the country’s digital trade ecosystem.

Bawa urged businesses yet to commence the onboarding process to do so promptly by engaging NRS-accredited service providers, stressing that early compliance would enable organisations to transition smoothly ahead of the enforcement deadlines.