Nigeria is making its most ambitious fiscal push yet, projecting to generate at least ₦17.85 trillion ($11.92 billion) in tax and customs revenues by 2026. With oil revenues shrinking, the federal government is turning to technology as its strongest lever for plugging leakages, expanding compliance, and modernising tax administration.
According to the 2025–2027 Medium-Term Fiscal Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, most of the revenue will come from VAT, corporate income tax, customs levies, and the electronic money transfer levy (EMTL). In 2025 alone, Nigeria expects to raise ₦16.05 trillion ($10.72 billion) from these streams.
For years, revenue collection was crippled by manual systems, weak enforcement, and corruption. New reforms enacted in 2025 aim to address multiple taxation, streamline compliance, and digitalise the tax net. President Bola Tinubu described these measures as “opening the doors to a new economy,” but the true spotlight falls on digital tools that promise to transform administration.
Technology as the Revenue Engine
The government is betting on platforms like TaxPro Max, launched in 2021, which allows taxpayers to register, file, pay, and obtain tax clearance certificates online. Since August 2025, large businesses with annual turnovers above ₦5 billion have been mandated to integrate their invoicing systems directly with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for real-time transaction validation.
Plans are also underway to automate VAT collection in supermarkets, hotels, and retail outlets, while FIRS develops a real-time online data mining portal to conduct audits, investigations, and identify non-compliant taxpayers. Crucially, FIRS will link its systems with NIBSS, NCC, CAC, and the Nigeria Customs Service to mine third-party data and close loopholes.
The scale of transactions is vast: NIBSS alone processed ₦1 quadrillion ($667.79 billion) in 2024. In response, FIRS has built a portal to monitor all VAT-eligible electronic transactions, requiring banks, fintechs, and card networks to integrate. Meanwhile, tighter monitoring of the EMTL—a ₦50 levy on transfers above ₦10,000—is expected to curb underreporting by banks.
Customs and Structural Reforms
On the customs side, the government aims to revive its stalled $3.2 billion modernisation project, designed to fully automate import/export clearance and payments. The initiative, first conceived in 2015, overcame major legal battles in 2024 and is now central to revenue reforms.
The Challenge Ahead
Experts warn that while digitalisation improves efficiency, progress depends on infrastructure, political will, and consistent implementation. As Taiwo Oyedele, chair of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, stressed: “Better tax administration will depend on modernisation and improved technology adoption.”
Nigeria targets an even higher ₦19.73 trillion ($13.18 billion) in 2027. Achieving this will hinge on whether technology can finally outpace entrenched inefficiencies and corruption in the system.
