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Large taxpayers that fail to onboard to the Nigeria Revenue Service’s (NRS) electronic invoicing system by July 31 could become subject to statutory penalties, according to Olumide Akinsola, country director of DigiTax Nigeria.
Speaking on a radio programme monitored in Lagos, Akinsola said the deadline marks the end of the extended compliance window for businesses with annual turnover above N5 billion, which the NRS classifies as large taxpayers under its phased e-invoicing rollout.
“If you are a large taxpayer and you are still not compliant, you have until July 31st to do that. You are officially in the range of punitive measures, which are defined by the law as fines that apply to your invoices that you have not transmitted to the NRS,” he said.
The e-invoicing framework requires affected businesses to transmit invoices electronically to the NRS for validation before they are recognised within the tax administration system. Under Nigeria’s tax framework, the tax authority can direct taxable persons to adopt electronic invoicing, while VAT invoices must contain prescribed transaction and taxpayer details.
Validated invoices receive a unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and QR code, allowing their authenticity and fiscal status to be verified.
Businesses that fail to comply will face a N200,000 penalty per infraction, alongside a 100 per cent surcharge on the tax due and interest calculated at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Rate plus two percentage points.
Akinsola said the NRS has divided Nigerian businesses into three categories for the phased rollout: large taxpayers with annual turnover above N5 billion, medium taxpayers with turnover between N1 billion and N5 billion, and emerging taxpayers with turnover below N1 billion. The first category is currently within the active compliance window, with the other groups expected to be brought into the system in subsequent phases.
The July 31 deadline follows earlier adjustments to the compliance timeline, which was initially moved from November to June before settling on the current date.
Akinsola described the deadline as the point at which the transition period ends and the statutory penalty regime begins to apply to businesses that remain non-compliant.
He also highlighted the potential commercial benefits of electronic invoicing, particularly for businesses seeking to streamline their VAT compliance and input tax credit processes.
Under the previous system, companies were required to submit physical documentation to the tax authority to substantiate VAT paid and received. The electronic system is expected to simplify the reconciliation process, including documentation required for refunds arising from VAT overpayments.
“I like to lead with the advantages to the businesses so that it’s not just a compliance measure,” he said.
The e-invoicing requirement also extends to businesses without enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. While many companies use platforms such as QuickBooks, Zoho Books, SAP and Sage, DigiTax, an NRS-accredited e-invoicing platform operating as both a System Integrator and Access Point Provider, provides a dashboard through which businesses can generate compliant invoices for transmission to the tax authority.
Akinsola urged businesses that have yet to complete their onboarding to begin the process immediately. He said DigiTax assesses existing systems, identifies compliance gaps, recommends necessary internal processes and assists companies without ERP infrastructure to onboard through its dashboard.
The rollout represents a broader shift towards compliance automation and technology-driven tax administration, with electronic invoicing expected to strengthen regulatory monitoring, improve regulatory reporting and provide greater visibility into taxable transactions.
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