The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has directed all large taxpayers in the country to fully adopt the national e-invoicing and Electronic Fiscal System (EFS) on or before July 31, 2026 to avoid sanctions for non-compliance.
The revenue agency, in a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media to the NRS Chairman, Dare Adekanmbi, on Sunday, warned that companies that failed to comply with the directive risk regulatory and enforcement actions under existing tax laws.
According to the chairman’s adviser, the July 31 timeline was set following a public notice issued by NRS on February 17 this year to the effect.
He stated that the February 17 public notice outlined the implementation timeline and mandatory adoption of the National E-Invoicing and Electronic Fiscal System, also known as the Merchant Buyer Solution (MBS).
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Adekanmbi clarified: “The Nigeria Revenue Service has set a July 31 deadline for all large taxpayers to wholly adopt the national e-invoicing and electronic fiscal system.”
“The NRS has already commenced compliance monitoring activities in order to assess the level of adherence to the e-invoicing mandate among large taxpayers.”
“Consequently, any defaulting member may be subjected to appropriate regulatory and enforcement actions in accordance with the provisions of the relevant tax laws and regulations.”
“Affected taxpayers are, therefore, advised to urgently conclude all outstanding onboarding and integration activities and commence invoice transmission before the compliance deadline”, he added.
The NRS Chairman’s Special Adviser Adekanmbi described large taxpayers as companies with an annual gross turnover of N5 billion and above and disclosed that more than 1,000 companies had complied with the e-invoicing requirements as of the first quarter of 2026.
He listed the compliance requirements as including completing onboarding on the Merchant Buyer Solution (MBS) and successfully integrating taxpayer systems through approved Access Point Providers (APPs) and/or Systems Integrators (SIs).
Adekanmbi added that taxpayers must complete all required validation and testing activities and actively transmit invoices to the NRS e-invoicing platform in line with approved standards and guidelines, urging business owners to ensure they receive only compliant e-invoices carrying valid Invoice Reference Numbers (RINs) from their suppliers as full compliance is critical to the successful implementation of the electronic invoicing framework and improved tax administration.
He restated the NRS’ commitment to providing the necessary support to ensure the successful implementation of the national e-invoicing regime.
It would be recalled that the revenue agency had in February this year announced the phased rollout of its electronic invoicing and fiscal monitoring system as part of efforts to strengthen tax administration, improve transparency and enhance voluntary tax compliance nationwide.
The initiative, known as the E-Invoicing and Electronic Fiscal System (EFS) or Merchant Buyer Solution (MBS), is being implemented in phases across different taxpayer categories based on annual turnover thresholds.
In the public notice signed by NRS Chairman, the system was formally activated for large taxpayers on August 1, 2025, following stakeholder consultations and pilot deployments that commenced in January 2025.
The implementation timeline for large taxpayers was later extended to November 2025 to address operational and transitional considerations before full enforcement.
The July 31, 2026 timeline ended the transition period for large taxpayers, with the NRS now moving to enforce full compliance with the directive
Analysts believe that the revenue service’s latest directive is desirable for Nigeria’s fiscal administration and is expected to improve tax compliance, reduce VAT leakages, and enhance revenue collection through real-time transaction monitoring.
They identified some of the long-term benefits of compliance with the directive by large taxpayers as including improved transparency, faster tax administration, and a more level competitive environment.
