Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has launched a new e-invoicing platform, the Merchant Buyer Solution (eInvoice), alongside the National Electronic Invoicing Inter-Agency Steering Committee on 29 April 2025.

The rollout is phased, starting with a pilot for select large taxpayers, which will later be expanded to include all large taxpayers later in 2025, and eventually to medium and small businesses.

Merchant Buyer Solution (eInvoice)

FIRSMBS (eInvoice) is a government initiative under the FIRS Digital Transformation Strategy (2023/24) that shall be used by all Value Added Tax (VAT) registered taxpayers’ businesses to manage the issuance of e-invoices in accordance with Section 25, Part 5 of the Tax Administration and Enforcement Act 2007.

The FIRSMBS (eInvoice) is a digital representation of transactions between suppliers and buyers, effectively replacing traditional paper or electronic documents such as invoices, credit notes, and debit notes.

This eInvoice includes all essential transaction details like supplier and buyer information, item descriptions, quantities, prices, tax, and total amounts. Designed to facilitate real-time or near real-time validation and storage of transactions, the eInvoice caters to Business-to-Business (B2B), Business-to-Consumer (B2C), and Business-to-Government (B2G) transactions.

Benefits

FIRSMBS (einvoice) offers numerous advantages, including streamlined processes, enhanced compliance, and improved efficiency. By automating invoicing tasks, businesses can reduce errors, save time and costs, and ensure accurate tax reporting. Additionally, the MBS system provides real-time invoice tracking and supports seamless interoperability among different business ERPs and accounting systems.

To begin, businesses must register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to obtain a Tax Identification Number (TIN). This TIN is then used to access the FIRSMBS portal. The portal requires email verification, so users need to confirm their email addresses. Additionally, taxpayers must be authorised for e-invoicing on the MBS system by submitting the necessary information through the FIRSMBS portal before they can issue invoices.

Earlier, the FIRS initiated a stakeholder engagement on 18 February 2025 with large taxpayer groups to prepare for the upcoming pilot phase of the Merchant Buyer Solution.  The FIRS introduced the FIRS e-invoicing system under the Tax Administration and Enforcement Act 2007 on 18 September 2024.