Nigeria writes VAT invoice contents and sequential numbering into law

What changed in detail

Section 152 of the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025 (Act No. 7), in force from 1 January 2026, requires a taxable person who makes a taxable supply to keep sequential invoice numbering and to give the purchaser a VAT invoice containing:

• (a) the supplier’s tax ID;
• (b) the supplier’s name and address and the sequential invoice number;
• (c) the supplier’s incorporation or business registration number, as applicable;
• (d) the date of supply;
• (e) the name of the purchaser or client;
• (f) the gross amount of the transaction; and
• (g) the VAT charged and the rate.

Under section 152(2), the invoice must be issued on supply whether or not payment is made at that time. Section 152(3) allows it to be issued by the taxable person or by another person the Service appoints. Section 152(4) lets the Service direct any taxable person to use electronic invoices on at least 30 days’ notice.

The list does not require the purchaser’s tax ID.

What it means

Nigerian VAT invoices now have a statutory minimum content, so an invoice missing any of the seven items does not meet the Act. Two points are easy to miss. The invoice is due at the time of supply even when payment comes later, and the supplier’s business registration number is required as well as its tax ID.

Section 152(4) and the fiscalisation duty in section 157 (ng-vat-fiscalisation-mandate-2025) are the levers for moving these invoices onto the NRS system. As of November 2026 the section is in force as enacted.