E-Invoicing to become mandatory by January 2028 – NRS

The Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS) has said the country’s transition to mandatory electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) will be completed by January 2028 under a phased three-year implementation plan aimed at strengthening compliance and automating tax administration. Project Manager for the e-invoicing implementation, Mohammed Bawa, said the timeline was structured to ease taxpayers from manual invoicing into […]

The Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS) has said the country’s transition to mandatory electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) will be completed by January 2028 under a phased three-year implementation plan aimed at strengthening compliance and automating tax administration.

Project Manager for the e-invoicing implementation, Mohammed Bawa, said the timeline was structured to ease taxpayers from manual invoicing into a fully digital system.

“Every system that you introduce, there must be challenges, that is why we have phased out implementation in three different phases, from large taxpayers to medium to emerging,” Bawa said on Tuesday at a stakeholders’ workshop in Abuja in partnership with eTranzact

“So as we continue to implement, more taxpayers are joining and we will continue to improve the system until we arrive at our destination. So for complete transition, we are looking at by the end of 2027, precisely January 2028.

“Subsequently, there’s a public notice that was signed by the Executive Chairman of NRS today, which has given the different dates for the different sectors. This year we are going to focus on medium taxpayers and towards the end of the year. The January 2028 deadline would follow a gradual onboarding process beginning with large taxpayers, before extending to medium and smaller businesses.

“This year we are focusing on medium taxpayers, we will do circular engagements, a pilot rollout, and then enforce compliance,” he further explained.

Bawa said the NRS had conducted engagements over the past year with taxpayers, tax consultants and sector operators, particularly within the large taxpayer community, to prepare them for the transition.

He noted that several large taxpayers had already commenced transitional e-invoicing, while others were expected to onboard ahead of full enforcement.

According to him, the service has strengthened its technological infrastructure to support the rollout.

“We have bought additional servers, and we will continue to improve the system based on feedback received,” he said.

Bawa stressed that taxpayers are free to choose from any accredited service provider, adding that the NRS only regulates and accredits providers to ensure compliance standards.

“We are not in the business of promoting any service provider. All accredited providers are competent to deliver the required integration,” he noted.

He explained that the initiative aligns with a global shift toward digital tax administration, adding that the NRS is working toward full end-to-end automation of its processes.

“In the last five years, we have automated major interactions with taxpayers, from filing to payments and tax clearance certificates. E-invoicing is the next stage of that integration,” he said.

Abubakar Achimugu, Executive Director at eTranzact, said the transition from manual invoicing to digital processing would improve transparency and enhance revenue tracking.

The representative of eTranzact, one of the accredited service providers, said the digital platform had been structured to integrate with existing accounting systems and reduce manual reconciliation errors.

He added that the charges for using the platform would be tied largely to transaction volumes.

“The cost is very minimal in terms of technology. As you scale more, the cost reduces,” he said.