In short
- Mandatory from 1 January 2027 for revenue of AED 50 million or more, from 1 July 2027 for the rest.
- A provider is appointed by 30 October 2026 in the first group and by 31 March 2027 in the second.
- In scope: every business, registered for VAT or not. Sales to consumers are outside for now.
- A late start costs AED 5,000 a month. Each invoice not sent costs AED 100, up to AED 5,000 a month.
In this guide
Is e-invoicing mandatory in the UAE?
Yes, in phases that start on 1 January 2027. An e-invoice is invoice data in a structured format that the seller's software sends to the buyer's through accredited providers, while the tax data is reported to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA). The Ministry of Finance says it in plain words: a PDF, a Word file, a scan or an email is not an e-invoice.
Four decisions set the rules. Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025 defines the system and the duties. Decision No. 244 of 2025 sets the phases, and Decision No. 66 of 2026 moved one of its dates. Cabinet Decision No. 106 of 2025 sets the penalties.
In most companies the change lands on whoever issues the invoices and keeps the books. We get our clients' data and process ready as part of accounting services in Dubai and the UAE.
UAE e-invoicing timeline: the dates by revenue
| Who | Appoint a provider by | E-invoicing from |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot group, invited by the Ministry and agreed in writing | No date set | 1 July 2026 |
| Any business that chooses to start early | No date set | 1 July 2026, voluntary |
| Revenue of AED 50 million or more | 30 October 2026 | 1 January 2027 |
| Revenue below AED 50 million | 31 March 2027 | 1 July 2027 |
| Government entities | 31 March 2027 | 1 October 2027 |
Revenue is the gross income of the most recent accounting period, taken from the financial statements. A company with AED 12 million in its latest statements is in the second group.
The first group's date to appoint a provider was 31 July 2026. Decision No. 66 of 2026 moved it to 30 October 2026. The Ministry's guidelines of 1 June 2026 still print the old date in their table: the decision prevails.
Dealings between members of one VAT group have a grace period of 24 months from 1 January 2027. A business that starts voluntarily follows the same technical rules and faces no e-invoicing penalties until its own mandatory date.
Who needs to issue e-invoices, and who is excluded
The duty falls on every person who conducts business in the UAE, for each business transaction, whether or not the business is registered for VAT. Mainland and free-zone companies are treated alike. A foreign business that has to issue UAE tax invoices issues them as e-invoices.
| Transaction | In scope |
|---|---|
| Sale to another business | Yes |
| Sale to a government entity, or by one to a business | Yes |
| Sale to a consumer | No, until the Minister decides otherwise |
| Export | Yes: issued and reported, with a predefined address when the buyer is outside the network |
| Purchase from a supplier abroad | No: the foreign invoice does not pass through the system |
| International passenger flight with an electronic ticket | No |
| Financial service that is exempt from VAT | No |
| Holding company with passive income and no business transactions | No |
International air freight under an airway bill is excluded for 24 months. A holding company that recharges management costs to its subsidiaries does make business transactions and comes into scope.
Buying counts too. The buyer's provider receives the invoice, so a business needs a provider to receive e-invoices and to send them, and one provider does both.
How the five-corner model works: Accredited Service Providers and PINT AE
The Ministry calls the design a decentralised model of continuous transaction control and exchange. It runs on the Peppol network, and the UAE format is called PINT AE.
- You, the supplier, send the invoice data to your provider in the format the two of you agreed.
- The provider validates the data and converts it into the UAE standard XML.
- It sends the e-invoice to the buyer's provider and reports the tax data to the FTA.
- The buyer's provider validates the invoice, passes it to the buyer and reports the tax data to the FTA from its side.
- Confirmations of the exchange and of the reporting come back to both parties through their providers.
The corners are the supplier, its provider, the buyer's provider, the buyer and the FTA. The Ministry accredits the providers under Decision No. 168 of 2026 and publishes the list: 65 firms on 9 October 2026, with five more in final assessment. Your address on the network is built from your Tax Identification Number, the first 10 digits of your tax registration number. A business with no tax registration obtains the identification number from the FTA in EmaraTax.
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What an e-invoice must contain
The Ministry's field list of 23 February 2026 gives 51 mandatory fields for an electronic tax invoice and 49 for a commercial e-invoice. A commercial e-invoice is the invoice for a sale that needs no tax invoice.
| Group | Mandatory fields |
|---|---|
| Invoice | Number, date, type, currency, transaction type, payment due date, payment method |
| Seller | Name, electronic address, legal registration, tax registration number, address |
| Buyer | Name, electronic address, tax or legal registration number, address |
| Totals | Net amount, tax amount, total with tax, amount due |
| Tax breakdown | Taxable amount, tax amount, category and rate |
| Each line | Quantity, unit, net and gross price, tax category and rate, VAT and line amount in AED, item name and description |
- The transaction type is a row of eight flags: free zone, deemed supply, margin scheme, summary invoice, continuous supply, disclosed agent, e-commerce and export.
- For a customer in a free zone the invoice names the customer and the beneficiary of the supply.
- The payment due date is filled in even when the customer pays on the spot.
- An error is corrected with a credit note. The system has no cancellation and no debit note.
- The file is XML and carries no QR code.
E-invoicing penalties in the UAE and the deadlines behind them
| Duty | Deadline | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Appoint a provider and implement the system | The dates of your phase | AED 5,000 for each month or part of a month of delay |
| Issue and send the e-invoice | 14 days from the date of the transaction | AED 100 an invoice, up to AED 5,000 a calendar month |
| Issue and send a credit note | 14 days | AED 100 a credit note, up to AED 5,000 a calendar month |
| Tell the FTA of a system failure | 2 business days | AED 1,000 for each day of delay |
| Tell your provider that your registered data changed | 5 business days from the FTA's confirmation | AED 1,000 for each day of delay |
The date of the transaction is the day it took place or the day the payment arrived, whichever is earlier. A VAT-registered seller also keeps to the time limit the VAT law sets for a tax invoice.
A company of the second group misses 31 March 2027 and appoints its provider on 10 June: the delay runs into a third month and costs AED 15,000. In one month it sends 80 invoices outside the system: 80 times AED 100 is AED 8,000, and the cap brings it to AED 5,000.
A taxable person keeps e-invoices and their data for five years after the tax period, and seven years for real estate. The records may be kept on servers abroad as long as the FTA can obtain them complete and readable on request.
How to implement e-invoicing in the UAE: what a company prepares
- Find your phase: set the revenue in your latest financial statements against AED 50 million.
- List what you invoice and to whom: businesses, government, consumers, customers abroad. Mark the documents that are in scope.
- Check that your accounting software produces every mandatory field. Fill the gaps in the customer and item records: legal names, tax numbers, addresses, units, tax categories.
- Choose a provider from the Ministry's list, agree the price and sign the contract.
- Start the onboarding in EmaraTax: the account administrator opens the e-invoicing tile and selects the provider.
- Collect the electronic addresses of your customers and suppliers.
- Test with the provider: send an invoice, receive one, and see the confirmations and the report to the FTA.
- Agree who deals with a rejected invoice and a system failure, then go live by your date.
The Ministry's own checklist follows the same order and adds one point for groups: every member of a tax group is onboarded separately, under its own identification number.
E-invoicing, VAT and the invoices you send today
E-invoicing changes the form of a tax invoice, whose fields today follow the tax invoice format in the UAE, and leaves VAT itself as it is. The rate stays 5%, and the threshold for VAT registration in the UAE stays AED 375,000. A business in the system issues its tax invoices and tax credit notes as e-invoices. While a buyer is not yet in the system, the Ministry's guidelines ask for an ordinary tax invoice, for example a PDF, alongside the electronic one.
An export is issued and reported like any other sale. When the foreign buyer has no address on the network, your provider still reports the tax data and you send the invoice yourself, for example by email.
The books behind the invoices, and the audit that reads them, are in which companies in the UAE must be audited and corporate tax in the UAE. We prepare the data and run the process with your provider as part of keeping the books of your UAE company.
