The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has fixed January 2028 as the deadline for the full transition to mandatory electronic invoicing.
The move, the agency says, will transform tax administration through real-time transparency, reduced fraud and improved economic planning.
Project Manager for the e-invoicing implementation, Mohammed Bawa, made this known on Tuesday at a stakeholders’ workshop in Abuja.
He explained that the project falls under a three-year phased implementation plan aimed at strengthening compliance and automating tax administration.
He said the timeline was structured to ease taxpayers into a fully digital system from manual invoicing.
“Every system that you introduce, there must be challenges; that is why we have planned the implementation in three different phases, from large taxpayers to medium to emerging.
“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,” Bawa said.
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According to him, a public notice signed by the Executive Chairman of NRS specified the different dates for the different sectors.
He said this year we are going to focus on medium taxpayers 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,” Bawa explained.
He hinted that the NRS had, over the past year, had engagements 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.
He further hinted that 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,” Bawa said.
He said 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,” Bawa 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,” Bawa said.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X
