By Moses Nosike

Large Nigerian businesses with annual turnover of ₦5 billion and above face enforcement action from July 1, 2026 under the Nigeria Revenue Service’s e-invoicing mandate, with penalties applying to every invoice not transmitted through the Merchant Buyer Solution (MBS) platform from that date.

Speaking at a virtual media parley recently, Country Director, DigiTax Nigeria, Olumide Akinsola, said that while adoption among large taxpayers has been encouraging, a significant number of the roughly 5,000 businesses in that category remain outside compliance. “Over 1,000 had complied as of early 2026, according to NRS briefings shared with accredited service providers, but that leaves the majority exposed as the compliance window closes on June 30”.

“The NRS tells us that the results are encouraging, but there is a lot more work to be done. There is still a significant chunk of businesses in this cohort that are still outside”, Akinsola said.

The consequences of non-compliance extend beyond regulatory fines. Under the e-invoicing framework, businesses that receive invoices that have not been validated through the MBS platform are unable to claim VAT input tax credits on those transactions. This means a supplier’s failure to comply has direct financial consequences for the buyer, making e-invoicing compliance a condition of continued commercial relevance.

“It is impossible to claim VAT input credits if those invoices were not transmitted to the NRS system. Not being compliant means you are actually leaking revenue, because the input VAT you cannot claim back, you have to pay from your own pocket,” Akinsola said.

The penalty structure is significant. Every VAT charge on an invoice that was not transmitted after the enforcement date automatically becomes a fine, with interest charged at 2% above the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Rate.

The deadline pressure intensifies from July, when the second phase of the rollout extends to medium-sized businesses with annual turnover between ₦1 billion and ₦5 billion. Stakeholder engagement begins immediately, with a compliance enforcement window running from January to March 2027.

The third phase, covering emerging taxpayers with turnover below ₦1 billion, is scheduled for July 2027, with enforcement from January 2028.

The NRS e-invoicing framework, operated via the Merchant Buyer Solution platform, requires businesses to generate, validate, and submit invoices electronically in real time through accredited Access Point Providers (APPs) and System Integrators (SIs). Each validated invoice is assigned an Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and a QR code for verification. The mandate covers both VAT and, more recently, withholding tax.

DigiTax, a product of Namiri Technology Limited, is one of fewer than twenty service providers accredited by the NRS to operate as both an SI & APP.

The company operates across three African markets: Kenya, Zambia, and Nigeria. Akinsola noted that the e-invoicing mandate also now covers withholding tax, with implementation details being finalised.

Nigeria’s e-invoicing rollout is part of a broader continental shift toward digital tax administration. Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Rwanda, Egypt, and South Africa have all adopted or are rolling out versions of e-invoicing frameworks. Akinsola cited estimates that Africa loses the equivalent of ₦20 trillion annually to tax leakages and gaps, and positioned e-invoicing as the primary technology response to that problem.

DigiTax said it has onboarded over 100 customers in Nigeria since operations began, working across financial services, oil and gas, energy, manufacturing, and other sectors. The company also announced plans to launch in Ghana within the next two to three months.