The Federal Inland Revenue Service has called on large tax consultants to embrace the electronic invoicing system, saying it is key to boosting the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio by improving tax compliance, enhancing transparency, and curbing revenue losses.
This call was made on Monday in Lagos during a stakeholder engagement forum focused on the phased rollout of the e-invoicing initiative, which targeted tax consultants to large taxpayers.
According to Revenue Statistics in Africa 2023, Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio stood at 10.6 per cent indicating an improvement from 6.3 3 per cent in the previous year. The Federal Government has set a target of 18 per cent.
The FIRS announced the launch of the National E-Invoicing Solution in 2024, describing it as a transformative initiative aimed at providing real-time visibility into business transactions and financial data.
Highlighting the role of tax consultants in the adoption of the e-invoicing system, the Director, Competent Authority Department, FIRS, Sunday Okeowo, who was represented by Director of Field Operations Management at FIRS, Matthew Osanekwu, said they “partner with FIRS on the journey to digital transformation, embrace adoption and understanding of the e-invoicing concept, support clients/taxpayers in technological integration and implementation, provide continuous training and capacity building for clients, and advocate for compliance advisory.”
Osanekwu added, “Tax consultants must realise that change has come. FIRS is on a journey, and that journey is to become one of the most trusted and efficient tax systems in the world.”
Tax consultants need to embrace change, and they need to support their clients to understand the need to migrate from the current manual approach to a digital approach. They will assist in guiding their clients on the integration of the solution into their system. Tax consultants are a bridge between the tax authority and the taxpayer.”
He added that the goal is to “improve our compliance gap, to improve our tax-to-GDP ratio to 18 per cent that the Federal Government envisages. Also, to ensure that taxpayers comply with the provisions of the law.”
In his comments, the Chief of Staff to the Executive Secretary of the FIRS/Head, Strategic Management Office, Tayo Koleosho, said, “Today is to inform the tax consultants where we are on this project and to seek their support so that as they meet their clients, they are able to walk them through the process, the value proposition of the electronic invoicing solution, and the value to the country’s tax administration and revenue generation.”
Koleosho further clarified the timeline for implementation, stating, “We are hoping that by July of this year, we will go live. The benefits of this system are ease of doing business, ease of tax administration, and ease of tax compliance. It is a win-win for all.”
The project manager for the e-invoicing system, Mohammed Bawa, maintained that the adoption of the solution would improve the ease of doing business in the country.
He added that the tax consultants have been receptive to the solution, saying, “There is a consensus that this is the way to go, and we hope that we will be able to push compliance to a high level.”
