Nigeria has recorded a major breakthrough in its digital trade transformation with the global registration of its Tax Identification Number (Tax-ID) and the approval of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as the nation’s official Peppol Authority.
The move, achieved with support from the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), places Nigeria’s Tax-ID under the ISO/IEC 6523 International Coding System, granting individuals and businesses international recognition in cross-border transactions.
Peppol, a global framework for secure and standardised electronic document exchange, is already widely adopted in Europe, Asia, and Australia. With FIRS now serving as Nigeria’s Peppol Authority, businesses in the country can integrate seamlessly into this network ensuring faster payments, reduced administrative costs, and greater competitiveness on the world stage.
In a statement, FIRS said the initiative “simplifies compliance for taxpayers, enables smoother cross-border transactions, and strengthens confidence in Nigeria as a global trade and investment hub.”
Under the framework, Tax-IDs generated from the National Identification Number (NIN) for individuals and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) numbers for businesses will now be internationally referenceable, reducing duplication and errors while unifying tax records across federal and state levels.
As part of the reforms, FIRS has also launched the Merchant Buyer Solution (MBS), an e-invoicing platform that large taxpayers are required to adopt by November 1, 2025, with medium and small businesses to follow in phases. Companies have been urged to validate their Tax-IDs, update accounting systems, and onboard quickly.
According to FIRS, the MBS rollout marks “a significant step in simplifying tax administration, closing compliance gaps, and aligning Nigeria with global best practices in taxation and cross-border trade.”
