The details a Nigerian VAT invoice must carry
The details section 153 of the Nigeria Tax Act and the NRS require on a VAT invoice, and what an invoice issued from Achekam does and does not show yet.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Running a business businesses in Nigeria
An invoice does two jobs at once. It asks the customer for money, and it is the record that shows the VAT you charged. In Nigeria the law spells out what that record must contain, and a customer's accounts team, an auditor or the NRS will read your invoices against that list.
Most of the items are obvious once written down. The ones that slip are the supplier's registration number, a numbering sequence with gaps, and VAT folded into a single total. This guide walks through the list, explains why each item matters, and sets out honestly what an invoice issued from Achekam shows today and what you still need to check yourself.
The list in the Act and on the NRS page
Section 153 of the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025 lists the contents of a VAT invoice, and the NRS repeats the same items on its Value Added Tax page, which also covers registration, returns and zero-rated examples. The NRS says a taxable person must number invoices sequentially and give the buyer a VAT invoice showing:
| Item | What to check |
|---|---|
| The supplier's tax ID | Your Tax ID exactly as issued |
| An invoice number | Taken from one unbroken sequence |
| The supplier's name and address | Your registered name, not a trading nickname |
| The supplier's incorporation or business registration number | Your CAC number |
| The date of supply | The date the supply took place |
| The buyer's name | The customer's legal name |
| The gross amount | The value before VAT |
| The VAT charged and the rate | Both shown, not just a total |
The NRS also lists, among a taxable person's VAT obligations, including VAT on all invoices issued to customers and keeping proper records. The invoice is where both duties meet. For how the Tax ID should appear, see showing your Tax ID on invoices.
Numbering in one unbroken sequence
Sequential numbering is not a formality. A sequence with gaps invites the question of where the missing invoices went, and two invoices sharing a number make a nonsense of any reconciliation. Use one series per business, never reuse a number, and cancel a mistaken invoice with a credit note rather than deleting it once issued.
Gross amount, rate and VAT shown apart
The Act's list already asks for the gross amount, the VAT charged and the rate. For customers that withhold VAT, the NRS goes further. Its Guidelines on the Withholding of VAT say suppliers to appointed withholding agents, whether service providers, contractors or vendors, must state separately on each invoice, bill or debit note the gross amount of taxable supplies, the VAT rate and the amount of VAT charged.
The reason is practical. A withholding customer pays you the price without the VAT and pays the VAT to the NRS, so it needs to see the two amounts apart. Under the Act the standard rate is 7.5%, with exempt and 0% supplies listed separately; lines that are zero-rated should say so, and zero-rated goods and services covers which items those are.
What an Achekam invoice shows today
Achekam builds the invoice in a way that matches several items on the list:
- Numbering. Invoices start as drafts that can be changed or deleted. Issuing one takes the next number in the business's sequence and posts it to the ledger as debtors, sales and output VAT. The number format is set in Settings.
- Your VAT number. The VAT registration number is entered in Settings under Firm Profile. Documents made by the server print it, and they are titled Tax Invoice only when a VAT number is set.
- Tax per line. A Nigerian business picks a tax code on each line: standard, zero-rated, exempt, out of scope or reverse charge. Only standard lines carry VAT, at the approved rate for the country. While the Nigerian VAT rate rule awaits platform approval, Achekam refuses to charge standard-rate VAT on a Nigerian invoice and asks the user to choose a code without VAT or wait.
- The customer's number. A customer's tax number prints as a VAT number only when it looks like a South African VAT number; a Nigerian Tax ID therefore prints as a tax number.
- Delivery. An issued invoice can be downloaded as a PDF on the business's letterhead and e-mailed from the invoice.
- E-invoicing. MBS identifiers print only once an invoice is fiscalised; until then the document says it is not yet fiscalised.
Two limits need your attention. The invoice PDF downloaded or e-mailed from the invoice screen is currently always headed TAX INVOICE and cites the South African VAT Act, whatever the business's country or VAT number; the server's own template handles this correctly. And the list asks for your Tax ID and CAC registration number, so look at a finished PDF and confirm your letterhead carries both.
A pre-issue invoice check
Before an invoice leaves the business, run through it once:
- Is your Tax ID on it, exactly as issued?
- Is the number the next in your sequence, with no gap since the last one?
- Are your registered name, address and CAC registration number present?
- Is the date of supply right, not just the date you typed the invoice?
- Is the customer's legal name used?
- Does each line carry the right tax code, and are the gross amount, the rate and the VAT shown separately?
- Does the PDF heading and wording suit a Nigerian invoice?
- If the customer withholds VAT, can it read the VAT amount at a glance?
Print one invoice today and hold it against the table above. Any gap you find is easier to close now than after a year of invoices have gone out the same way.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
