The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has directed fintech companies and payment gateways to report all transactions processed through their networks, as part of the implementation of its electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) system for large businesses.

The directive, announced in Lagos during a two-day workshop, applies to major operators such as Flutterwave, Paystack, Remita, and Interswitch. According to FIRS, the move is designed to ensure all transactions are captured through the agency’s Merchant Buying Solution (MBS).

“If you’re tempted as a taxpayer not to declare your invoices on the invoicing platform, that would not be a very good idea, because we have given all the payment gateways the responsibility of reporting every payment that passes through them to us,” said Mike Adoga, Acting Director of Tax Automation at FIRS.

The e-invoicing system is structured to capture Business-to-Business (B2B), Business-to-Consumer (B2C), and Business-to-Government (B2G) transactions. As of August 1, over 1,000 companies had been onboarded, though the deadline has been extended by three months to November 1, 2025. Onboarding is mandatory for firms with annual turnovers of ₦5 billion and above about 5,000 companies nationwide.

Adoga noted that Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio remains at about 10 percent, with many taxable transactions escaping capture. “That’s not good for us as a country. This is why we put frameworks in place to enable us to do the right thing more easily,” he said.

The Merchant Buyer Solution is being implemented by FIRS in partnership with the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria Customs Service, and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

Officials say the initiative will improve transparency, enhance voluntary compliance, reduce revenue leakages, and expand the country’s formal business sector. Adoga also assured stakeholders of strict confidentiality, citing compliance with the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA).

“Taxpayer A does business with Taxpayer B, and it’s a taxable transaction FIRS wants to know about it and make sure the taxes due are remitted correctly and on time. If we know about the transaction from the beginning, there will be no argument because every transaction is captured,” he explained.

With only 20 percent of targeted companies onboarded so far, the agency says the coming months will be crucial as it pushes to meet the November 1 enforcement date.