Regulatory updates - Nigeria

On August 11, 2025, FIRS issued a press release announcing a three-month extension of the e-invoicing deadline for large taxpayers with an annual turnover of ₦5 billion (ca. EUR 2.7 million) or more.

The Electronic Fiscal System (EFS) successfully launched on August 1, 2025. While the initial compliance deadline for large taxpayers was set for the same date, FIRS has now granted a three-month extension. This additional time allows affected taxpayers to onboard properly and fully integrate with the EFS — ensuring a smoother transition to the new compliance requirements.

FIRS granted this extension in recognition of taxpayers’ genuine efforts to meet the initial compliance deadline and encourage voluntary compliance. FIRS announced that the decision acknowledges the operational constraints many businesses encountered while attempting to comply within the original timeline.

The e-invoicing mandate is being rolled out in phases, starting with large taxpayers, followed by an extension to medium and smaller taxpayers.

FIRS announced that mandatory e-invoicing for large taxpayers comes after the successful completion of the EFS pilot phase, which began in November 2024 with selected large taxpayers. Subsequently, from August 1, 2025, the voluntary phase will end, and the large taxpayers, defined as businesses with an annual turnover of ₦5 billion (ca. EUR 3 million) or more, will be required to:

• Register and onboard to the e-invoicing platform
• Integrate their invoicing systems with the FIRS platform, based on the Merchant-Buyer model specifications
• Start generating, validating and transmitting e-invoices via designated e-invoicing channels

Taxpayers who participated in the pilot phase will be transferred to the production environment in August 2025. The integration documentation, system requirements, FAQs and additional resources are available here.

As previously reported by Pagero, the roll-out of the Nigerian mandate commences with a pilot for the largest taxpayers expected in July 2025, followed by an extension to medium and smaller taxpayers. With the launch of the portal, a vital step is reached, as the government infrastructure is now available, allowing all VAT-registered businesses in Nigeria to eventually issue e-invoices in accordance with Section 25, Part 5 of the Tax Administration and Enforcement Act of 2007.

To utilize the MBS portal, taxpayers must be enabled by submitting the required information on the FIRS MBS Portal. FIRS, in turn, allows for issuance directly in the FIRS MBS Portal or automatically through integrating with the FIRS MBS e-invoice API. Invoices issued via the MBS must be sent in the acceptable XML or JSON format and contain all necessary fields, as outlined in the e-invoice schema.

Upon issuance, invoices will be exchanged through a pre-clearance model, as they are validated by the MBS system and receive a unique identifier number before buyer exchange is allowed. Furthermore, the buyer and seller will receive a notification of the cleared invoice and can reject or cancel said invoices.

Further detailed information about the MBS system is available on the FIRS dedicated web page.