Nigeria e-invoicing rollout expands to medium taxpayers in 2026
Nigeria e-invoicing rollout expands to medium taxpayers in 2026
Abuja, 1 July 2026 – The Nigeria e-invoicing rollout now covers medium taxpayers, businesses with an annual turnover between ₦1 billion and ₦5 billion. This marks the second phase of the staged rollout of the Electronic Fiscal System (EFS), also known as the Merchant-Buyer Solution (MBS), announced by the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) in February 2026.
What is changing
Large taxpayers have been connected to the EFS since late 2025 and are now in the compliance enforcement phase. Medium taxpayers follow the same structured process from 1 July 2026: a pilot period, a post-go-live review, and enforcement from January 2027. Smaller, emerging taxpayers (annual turnover below ₦1 billion) join on 1 July 2027, with enforcement from January 2028.
The EFS runs technically on the Peppol network, using Peppol BIS 3.0 as the message standard for invoices. Invoices must be submitted in XML or JSON format, digitally signed, and comply with Peppol’s structured exchange standards. The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has been designated Nigeria’s Peppol Authority since September 2025 and is responsible for onboarding Peppol Serviceproviders on the network.
The rollout follows a fixed sequence for each taxpayer group: stakeholder engagement first, then a pilot phase in which a limited group of businesses actually invoices through the system, followed by a post-go-live review period, and only then enforcement with penalties. For the medium taxpayer group, stakeholder engagement ran from January to March 2026 and the pilot phase from April through June 2026; the review period continues through November 2026, after which enforcement begins in January 2027.
Follow-up to the original rollout
Nigeria made international headlines in 2025 as the first African country with an operational Peppol-based e-invoicing system, initially targeting large taxpayers. The expansion to medium taxpayers as of 1 July 2026 shows the phased approach is proceeding on schedule, and that the system’s reach is growing quickly, from a limited group of large enterprises to a substantial share of Nigerian businesses.
This expansion fits a broader trend of Peppol spreading beyond Europe as a network for mandatory e-invoicing and fiscal reporting, with comparable developments recently also seen in Oman. For international accounting and advisory practices serving Nigerian subsidiaries or clients, this means Peppol expertise is no longer limited to European engagements.
What this means for international trading partners
For Dutch and Belgian companies trading with Nigerian customers or suppliers in the medium-taxpayer category, structured e-invoicing via Peppol becomes relevant in the near term. Because the EFS runs on the same Peppol BIS standard used across Europe, existing Peppol connections generally do not require fundamental technical changes. It is worth verifying early whether Nigerian trading partners are already connected and which access point they use, given the pilot period running through November 2026.
The development also confirms that Peppol is increasingly becoming a global standard for e-invoicing and e-reporting, strengthening the case for businesses already investing in a broad, country-independent Peppol connection.
Practical steps
- Check whether Nigerian trading partners in the ₦1-5 billion turnover category are already connected to the EFS.
- Ask your Peppol Serviceprovider whether support for the Nigerian network is already available.
- Factor the enforcement phase from January 2027 into any ERP or invoicing workflow planning.
- Involve your Nigerian entity or accountant early in preparations, even if the Dutch or Belgian entity itself is not directly in scope.
Businesses looking to extend their Peppol connection to international networks in response to the Nigeria e-invoicing rollout can compare providers on uniform criteria via the Peppol.nu comparison tool. For background on Peppol’s expansion beyond Europe, see the article Peppol PINT global: how Peppol is expanding from European standard to worldwide network.
