E-invoicing is becoming mandatory in the UAE for business-to-business and business-to-government transactions, in phases from 1 January 2027. Businesses with revenue of AED 50 million or more must appoint an Accredited Service Provider by 30 October 2026 and go live by 1 January 2027; smaller businesses must go live by 1 July 2027 and government entities by 1 October 2027. The dates below reflect the official position as at October 2026.

Is e-invoicing mandatory in the UAE?

Yes, for most businesses. Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025 applies the Electronic Invoicing System to anyone conducting business in the UAE, for every business transaction that is not specifically excluded. It covers business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) transactions, whether or not the business is registered for VAT. Mandatory use is phased in from 1 January 2027.

An e-invoice is invoice data in a structured electronic format (XML) that systems can process automatically, exchanged between the parties and reported to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA). The Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the FTA both state that PDFs, Word documents, images, scanned copies and emails are not e-invoices.

The VAT invoicing rules still apply: once in scope, a VAT-registered business issues its tax invoices and tax credit notes as electronic invoices and credit notes.

Who needs to issue e-invoices, and from when?

Every business in scope must comply; timing depends on revenue. Under Ministerial Decision No. 244 of 2025, as amended by Ministerial Decision No. 66 of 2026, businesses with revenue of AED 50 million or more must appoint an Accredited Service Provider (ASP) by 30 October 2026 and go live by 1 January 2027. Everyone else follows in 2027.

The current deadlines are:

  • Revenue of AED 50 million or more: appoint an ASP by 30 October 2026 and implement by 1 January 2027.
  • Revenue below AED 50 million: appoint an ASP by 31 March 2027 and implement by 1 July 2027.
  • Government entities: appoint an ASP by 31 March 2027 and implement by 1 October 2027.

"Revenue" means gross income for the most recent accounting period, based on financial statements prepared under UAE law or, if there are none, other documentation the FTA accepts.

The ASP deadline for the largest businesses was originally 31 July 2026. Ministerial Decision No. 66 of 2026 moved it to 30 October 2026; the MoF called this a final adjustment and said the other deadlines are unchanged. Some MoF material, including the timeline table in the MoF's UAE Electronic Invoicing Guidelines, still shows 31 July 2026, but the amended decision is what applies. The FTA restated the dates for businesses on 29 September 2026.

Buyers are covered too: both the supplier and the buyer must appoint an ASP, and the MoF's FAQs say that even a business outside the scope for issuing e-invoices must be able to receive them through one.

Voluntary adoption and the MoF's pilot programme, which businesses join by invitation, both started on 1 July 2026.

How does the UAE e-invoicing model work?

The UAE uses a decentralised "5-corner" model built on the international Peppol network. The supplier and the buyer each connect through their own ASP. The supplier's ASP validates the invoice data, converts it into the UAE standard XML format (based on Peppol's PINT-AE specification) and sends it to the buyer's ASP, while tax data is reported to the FTA.

The five corners are:

  1. Supplier: sends invoice data to its ASP.
  2. Supplier's ASP: validates and converts the data, sends the e-invoice to the buyer's ASP and, in parallel, reports tax data to the FTA.
  3. Buyer's ASP: validates the e-invoice, delivers it to the buyer and, if validation succeeds, also reports tax data to the FTA.
  4. Buyer: receives the e-invoice.
  5. FTA: receives the tax data and sends confirmations, which the ASPs pass back to the supplier and the buyer.

Each business is identified on the network by its Tax Identification Number (TIN), the first 10 digits of its Tax Registration Number (TRN). A business that is not registered for any tax must register with the FTA to get a TIN. E-invoices carry no QR code or barcode.

Which transactions are covered or excluded?

Every business transaction is covered unless an exclusion applies. That includes sales to businesses and government entities, sales by businesses that are not VAT-registered (issued as commercial e-invoices) and exports. An electronic credit note is required when a transaction is cancelled, the price is reduced, consideration is returned, or an administrative or numerical error occurs.

Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025 excludes:

  • transactions by government entities acting in a sovereign capacity that do not compete with the private sector;
  • international passenger flights with an electronic ticket, and related airline services documented by an Electronic Miscellaneous Document;
  • international air cargo with an airway bill, for 24 months only;
  • financial services that are VAT-exempt under Article 42 of the VAT Executive Regulation, including exempt services zero-rated only because they are exported (the MoF's Guidelines add that financial services that would be standard-rated for a UAE customer are not excluded, even when exported).

Sales to consumers (B2C) are outside the system for now. Ministerial Decision No. 244 of 2025 says a business engaged only in B2C transactions is not subject to the system until the Minister decides otherwise. However, the FTA counts buying goods or services from other businesses as a business transaction, and the MoF's FAQs say a business in a mandatory phase must still appoint an ASP on time and be able to receive e-invoices even if all its sales are to consumers. Imports under the VAT reverse charge carry no e-invoicing requirement. Exports to a buyer without a Peppol identifier use a predefined endpoint and are still reported to the FTA.

Transactions between members of the same VAT group are in scope, but the MoF's Guidelines give them a 24-month grace period starting on 1 January 2027. A holding company with only passive income and no business transactions is out of scope for issuing e-invoices, though recharges such as management costs are business transactions. The MoF's FAQs say such a company must still be able to receive e-invoices through an ASP.

Several exclusions follow VAT definitions, so start from the VAT treatment of each income stream; see our VAT and indirect taxation page.

How do I implement e-invoicing in my business?

Confirm your deadline, choose an ASP from the MoF's published list, onboard through the FTA's EmaraTax platform, make sure your accounting system can produce the required invoice data, and test end to end before go-live. The MoF's UAE Electronic Invoicing Guidelines set out these stages and include a readiness checklist.

These steps follow the Guidelines, plus one practical addition:

  1. Map your invoicing. List the e-invoice types you issue (tax invoices, commercial invoices, credit notes, self-billed invoices) and any special scenarios, such as free zone supplies or exports.
  2. Check your systems. Confirm your accounting or ERP system can produce every mandatory field. The MoF lists 51 for an electronic tax invoice.
  3. Tidy your master data. As practical preparation rather than a legal requirement, check that customer names, TRNs, trade licence details and addresses are complete and current.
  4. Choose one ASP. A business must appoint a single ASP for both sending and receiving. The MoF suggests comparing system integration, data storage location, security, support and pricing, and checking that the contract includes the 100 free e-invoices a year that each ASP declares it will give every customer under Ministerial Decision No. 168 of 2026, which has governed ASP accreditation since 1 October 2026.
  5. Onboard through EmaraTax. The business, not the ASP, starts onboarding from the E-Invoicing tile in EmaraTax, after checking that its EmaraTax details are up to date. It then obtains its Peppol participant identifier through the ASP.
  6. Test, then go live. Test sending, receiving, confirmation messages and tax data reporting, and agree with your ASP how errors will be resolved.
  7. Plan the transition. Collect your customers' Peppol identifiers. Customers not yet on e-invoicing still need a regular tax invoice alongside the e-invoice, and self-billed e-invoices require the buyer to be on the system.
  8. Keep records. Store e-invoices, credit notes and associated data for the period set by the Tax Procedures Law, ready to produce to the FTA on request. See also what the FTA asks for in a VAT review.

What are the penalties for not complying?

Under Cabinet Decision No. 106 of 2025, an issuer of e-invoices that fails to implement the system, including by not appointing an ASP on time, pays AED 5,000 per month or part month of delay. Each e-invoice not issued and transmitted on time costs AED 100, up to AED 5,000 per calendar month; the same applies to electronic credit notes.

Two notification failures cost AED 1,000 for each day or part of a day of delay:

  • not notifying the FTA of a system failure, which the supplier and the buyer must each do within 2 business days;
  • not telling your ASP about changes to the data registered with the FTA, which is due within 5 business days of the FTA confirming the change.

For issuing, VAT-registered suppliers must meet the VAT Law's time limit; for other suppliers, Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025 allows 14 days from the date of the transaction, or of payment if earlier.

These penalties do not apply to voluntary users before their mandatory date. Existing VAT penalties under Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017, as amended, can still apply where tax invoicing obligations are not met.

Getting help

E-invoicing touches invoicing, VAT and your accounting system at once, and the e-invoices themselves must go through an ASP on the MoF's published list. For help checking whether your accounting records and systems are ready, see our business accounting service or contact us.