In just two years, Nigeria has achieved more than double of its tax revenue from N21.97 trillion to a record-breaking N47.39 trillion.
Between October 2023 and September 2025, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) exceeded its revenue target by 115 percent, marking the highest collection performance in the nation’s history.
The N47.39tn collection represents a sharp jump from N21.97tn recorded between October 2021 and September 2023, underscoring a 115 per cent performance against target.
Technology Meets Taxpayers
This extraordinary achievement was made possible by the deployment of digital technologies that transformed the processes of tax collection and monitoring, and also enforced tax compliance.
Under the leadership of Dr. Zacch Adedeji, appointed as FIRS Chairman in September 2023, the agency embarked on an aggressive digital transformation strategy with three key platforms that changed Nigeria’s tax landscape.
Building on TaxPro Max, an online tax administration system launched in 2021, FIRS launched a National e-Invoicing model called the Merchant-Buyer Solution (MBS).
This model was launched in August 2025 following a successful pilot phase which began in November 2024.
It was first rolled out to large taxpayers (companies with annual turnover of N5billion and more), and in two weeks of the initiative going live, 1,000 companies (representing 20% of the 5,000 eligible firms), embraced the solution and commenced integration with the FIRS MBS platform.
This system requires all business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) transactions to be validated through the FIRS platform in real-time.
Even business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions exceeding N50,000 have to be reported within 24 hours.
MTN Nigeria became the first taxpayer to transmit live electronic invoices to the FIRS, officially ushering in the e-invoicing regime.
The remaining large taxpayers are expected to come onboard on or before November 1, which is the deadline for all the firms in the category to finalise their onboarding and integration processes, according to FIRS.
The third key digital platform is the National Single Window Project, which is a centralized electronic platform that simplifies trade by allowing importers and exporters to submit all required documents through a single digital portal.
Launched by the Nigerian government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu in April 2024, this platform connects ports, government agencies, and trade stakeholders on a unified digital system.
Its goal is to streamline import, export, and transit processes thereby reducing costs and improving efficiency at Nigerian ports.
By streamlining import and export processes, the Single Window directly impacts customs revenues while simplifying compliance for businesses.
The full rollout of the project is targeted for the first quarter of 2026.
Another of the innovative element of FIRS’s digital strategy is the *829# USSD Code, launched in October 2024. This mobile service allows taxpayers across Nigeria to retrieve their Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN), verify tax clearance certificates, check tax rates, locate offices, and make inquiries directly from their phones.
Legislative Support
The deployment of these technological initiatives has not been successful just on its own but with the reinforcement of legislative reforms.
On 26 June 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the four (4) Tax Reform Bills into law. These laws include the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA), The Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA), The Nigeria Revenue Service Act (NRSA) and the Joint Revenue Board Act (JRBA), collectively referred to as “the Acts” ).
These laws comprehensively overhaul the Nigerian tax landscape to drive economic growth, increase revenue generation, improve the business environment and enhance effective tax administration across the different levels of government.
They also provided the legal framework for mandatory e-invoicing and granted FIRS the authority to require businesses to implement its MBS.
The Transformation Continues
As FIRS prepares to transform into the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) effective January 1, 2026, the digital transformation shows no signs of slowing.
The agency is on the move to surpass its N25.2 trillion annual target by December 2025, approximately 37.6 percent higher than the national budget projection.
Nigeria’s tax growth is a testament to the The International Monetary Fund May 2025 paper which noted that “there is a positive relationship between firm digitalisation and domestic tax revenues,” with countries demonstrating higher levels of business digital adoption showing larger tax-to-GDP ratios.
The question is no longer whether digital transformation can improve tax collection, but rather about whether the Nigerian government would be able to sustain this digitalisation and replicate this transformation in other sectors.
