NRS E-invoicing: Taxpayers Speed Up Integration as Compliance Deadline Approaches

Nigerian enterprises are swiftly adopting the National Revenue Service's (NRS) electronic invoicing system, driven by the impending compliance deadlines for large taxpayers, with medium-sized businesses expected to follow suit later this year. Olumide Akinsola, the Country Director for DigiTax Nigeria, confirmed in a recent statement that this transition has led to increased collaboration between the NRS, its accredited platform providers, and technical partners, all working to facilitate business onboarding.

Under the NRS e-invoicing framework, companies must transmit their invoices through the designated Merchant Buyer Solution (MBS) platform. Each transaction undergoes validation and is assigned a unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN), which serves as official proof of compliance. The NRS, in an implementation circular issued on February 17, warned that businesses failing to complete this integration could face penalties once enforcement commences for their respective categories. Furthermore, the notice stipulated that buyers engaging with non-compliant suppliers might be unable to claim Value Added Tax (VAT) input credit on such transactions.

The NRS circular highlighted significant progress, stating, “Significant progress has been recorded, with the onboarding of the majority of large taxpayers, many of whom have commenced the successful transmission of invoice data to the MBS platform.”

Speaking at the conclusion of a two-day Post Go-Live E-Invoice Workshop held for large taxpayers in Lagos, Mohammed Bawa, who serves as the Project Manager for the National E-Invoicing Project at the NRS, emphasized the collaborative nature of the initiative. He remarked, “Everyone benefits from the bigger picture: taxpayers, banks, service providers, and government.”

DigiTax, an NRS-accredited e-invoicing platform developed by Namiri Technology Limited and recognized as both a System Integrator and Access Point Provider, is actively assisting businesses in connecting their financial systems and enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms to the national e-invoicing infrastructure. The company has announced plans to host an E-Invoicing Compliance Breakfast in Lagos on July 14. This event will gather NRS officials, technical experts, and finance executives to delve into critical aspects of integration, onboarding, and compliance.

Akinsola noted that many businesses are seeking clarity on implementation timelines, integration requirements, and potential compliance risks. He articulated the practical concerns being raised: “The questions we are hearing from large and medium businesses are practical: how long integration takes, what it means for their finance and ERP environments, and what exposure they carry from suppliers who have not yet onboarded.” He added, “We designed the Compliance Breakfast to put those questions directly to the regulator and the technical partners behind the platform, and to launch original research on the transition.”

During the breakfast event, DigiTax also intends to unveil a white paper titled “The State of E-Invoicing Readiness in Nigeria.” This paper will offer an analysis of compliance trends observed in comparable African markets and provide projections for Nigeria's preparedness.

Meanwhile, D’Accubin Technology, responsible for developing the technical architecture of the NRS e-invoicing system, affirmed that the platform was constructed adhering to international invoicing standards. Sadiq Arogundade, the Chief Executive Officer of D’Accubin and Lead Technical Consultant for the NRS national e-invoicing initiative, stated during an NRS stakeholder engagement session on the e-invoicing pilot rollout in Lagos, “We built this in-house, ensuring it aligns with global best practices.”

The NRS is set to expand the e-invoicing framework to include medium taxpayers, specifically those with an annual turnover ranging between N1 billion and N5 billion, thereby broadening the scope of the compliance framework across a wider segment of Nigerian businesses.