Launched by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Electronic invoicing (FIRS e-invoicing) is tailored to improve tax compliance and modernise revenue collection. With this initiative, the federal government aims to alleviate tax evasion and streamline tax remittance.
FIRS generated N21.6 trillion in 2024, a performance that exceeded the N19.4 trillion target by 11.34%. It was also a significant improvement from the N12.3 trillion tax collection in 2023 and N10.1 trillion in 2022.
The FIRS e-invoicing solution will look to further increase the numbers. The innovation represents a significant transformation of digital tax administration, which is aimed at revolutionising tax payment in the country.
The platform, known as the merchant-buyer system (MBS), went live on August 1, after a pilot phase that began in November 2024. While the FIRS commenced onboarding on August 1, large taxpayers, companies with annual turnover of N5 billion and more, are expected to onboard before November 1, 2025.
The agency said the system aligns with global best practices and supports the federal government’s broader objectives of enhancing revenue assurance, reducing tax evasion, and modernising tax administration.
“The FIRS e-Invoicing Implementation Team will continue to provide support through stakeholder engagements, including webinars, workshops, and town hall meetings, to ensure a seamless transition for all large taxpayers,” FIRS said during the service providers’ unveiling.
Since it went live on August 1 2025, FIRS revealed that over 1,000 companies are already onboarded, representing 20% of the 5,000 eligible firms expected to be integrated on the platform. MTN Nigeria, IHS and Huawei were the first three taxpayers to transmit live electronic invoices to the FIRS, officially ushering in the e-invoicing regime.
Also Read: e-Invoicing: FIRS appoints Remita, Telepac, others as service providers.
What you should know about the FIRS e-invoicing
According to the FIRS,
- The solution was developed to provide real-time visibility into commercial transactions and ensure the authenticity, accuracy, and completeness of invoices.
- The e-invoicing aims to make tax compliance easier, faster and more transparent for all categories of taxpayers.
- It is structured to provide real-time visibility into commercial transactions and ensure invoice authenticity, accuracy, and completeness.
With the FIRS e-invoicing solution, the federal government wants to make business-to-trader and business-to-government transactions easy for tax generation. Aside from this, it’s also to go the digital way and promote transparency, efficiency and security.
The FIRS e-invoice is a digital proof that a transaction occurred between a business (supplier) and a buyer. It contains key transaction details like supplier and buyer information, item descriptions, quantities, prices, tax, and total amounts.
Note that the business/seller is the one to onboard on the FIRS MBS, not the buyer.
According to the plan, all businesses nationwide are expected to get onboarded on the FIRS e-invoicing platform. The process is moving in batches. The first batch is the large taxpayers, companies with an annual turnover of N5 billion and more. Once this is completed by November 1, the next category will be directed for onboarding.
The FIRS e-invoicing onboarding process
For onboarding, all businesses are expected to comply based on the scheduled directives of the FIRS.
Step 1: Registration on the FIRS e-invoicing portal. Here is where businesses are to select their APP. FIRS will review and approve for e-invoicing access.
Step 2: Businesses will receive the TIN, Business ID and secret Key. These will be needed for onboarding with APP.
Step 3: Setting up the system and final onboarding on the FIRS MBS platform
Following configuration and integration with the APP system, businesses will start generating invoices via the platform.
How APPs come in
Access Point Providers are intermediaries that are responsible for transmitting invoices. They are licensed by the FIRS and serve as a gateway that links businesses’ e-invoicing transactions on the MBS.
Sixteen service providers were unveiled last week. Some of them are Remita Payment Limited, Pascal Technology Limited, Hoptool Technology Limited, Etranzact International Plc, Telepac Africa Nigeria Limited, Cryptware System Limited, and Namiri Technology Nigeria Limited.
The following are key roles of access point providers
- They help companies with onboarding to the FIRS MBS platform.
- Once an invoice (a bill from a seller to a buyer) is generated, APPs are responsible for validating the data to ensure that it meets all requirements. Once vetted, they transmit it to the FIRS for approval.
- They check the accuracy and completeness of the invoice data. These include checks for mandatory fields, such as taxpayer identification numbers (TIN), transaction amounts, and VAT calculations.
- They ensure a seamless exchange of e-invoices between businesses and their trading partners.
- They manage the process of requesting and obtaining cryptographic stamps. This serves as a label that an e-invoice is authentic and hasn’t been altered.
- APPs will also detect and validate errors during the transaction process.
E-invoice generation
A business generates an e-invoice through its accounting system. Each invoice is digitally signed, vetted and encrypted by FIRS. This verification process is to enable a secure electronic document.
After verification, the encrypted e-invoice is transmitted by the APPs to the intended trading partner and the FIRS for approval.
In all, the FIRS e-invoicing initiative is a platform that modernises business transactions towards a responsible tax collection system. It also represents an effort by the federal government to embrace technology and the digital economy.