The UAE e-invoicing mandate: dates, scope and how to prepare

What is the UAE e-invoicing mandate?

The UAE e-invoicing mandate requires businesses to issue, exchange and report their invoices and credit notes as structured electronic data instead of PDFs or paper. It’s set by the Ministry of Finance in two decisions: Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025 on the electronic invoicing system, which sets the scope and the obligations, and Ministerial Decision No. 244 of 2025 on its implementation, which sets the timeline. Ministerial Decision No. 66 of 2026 amended the timeline.

Under the decisions, an e-invoice is an invoice issued, transmitted and received in a structured electronic format that systems can process automatically. The Ministry is clear that PDFs, Word documents, images, scanned copies and emails aren’t e-invoices, even when they’re sent electronically.

E-invoices are exchanged between the seller and the buyer and reported to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA). The Ministry says this reporting may support pre-filled fields on VAT returns and faster refunds.

How does the UAE e-invoicing model work?

The UAE uses a five-corner model on the Peppol network, which the Ministry calls decentralised continuous transaction control and exchange (DCTCE). Neither the seller nor the buyer connects to the FTA directly: each appoints an accredited service provider (ASP), and the ASPs exchange the invoice and report its tax data.

The Ministry accredits ASPs under Ministerial Decision No. 64 of 2025 and publishes the list on its website. Because both sides of a transaction need an ASP, your suppliers’ readiness matters as much as your own.

The UAE e-invoicing mandate timeline

The UAE e-invoicing mandate goes live in phases, by revenue, with a deadline to appoint an ASP ahead of each go-live date.

Ministerial Decision No. 66 of 2026 moved the ASP deadline for the largest businesses from 31 July 2026 to 30 October 2026. The Ministry announced the change on 10 May 2026 and confirmed that the 1 January 2027 date stays the same.

Revenue means the gross income earned in your most recent accounting period, based on your financial statements, or on other documents the FTA accepts if there are no statements. If your group has several UAE companies, check each one against the AED 50 million threshold.

Who is in scope, and what is excluded?

The mandate applies to any person conducting business in the UAE, for every business transaction, unless the person or the transaction is excluded. In practice, that means business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) sales.

These are outside the mandate:

• Business-to-consumer transactions, and businesses that sell only to consumers, until the Minister decides otherwise.
• Sovereign activities of government entities that don’t compete with the private sector.
• International passenger flights sold with an electronic ticket, and the airline’s ancillary services sold with an electronic miscellaneous document.
• International air cargo carried under an airway bill, for 24 months from the date the system takes effect.
• Financial services that are exempt from VAT or zero-rated.

A business that is excluded can still choose to use the e-invoicing system. If it does, the decisions apply to it in full, apart from the penalties.

What does the mandate require of a business?

Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025 sets out what issuers and recipients must do:

• Issue an e-invoice for every business transaction, and send it to the buyer through the e-invoicing system.
• Issue an electronic credit note when a transaction is cancelled, the agreed price is reduced, the consideration is refunded in full or in part, or an administrative or numerical error is corrected.
• Meet the deadline. A VAT-registered issuer follows the invoice timelines in the VAT law. Other issuers have 14 days from the date of the transaction.
• Process what you receive. Buyers receive and process e-invoices and electronic credit notes through the system too.
• Report to the FTA, within the timeline the Minister sets. Your ASP does this for you.
• Include the required data fields, as the Ministry prescribes.
• Store the data in the UAE, for the record-keeping period in the tax procedures law.
• Tell the FTA about a system failure within 2 business days.
• Tell your ASP about changes to your details registered with the FTA within 5 business days of the FTA confirming them.

What are the penalties?

Cabinet Resolution No. 106 of 2025 sets the administrative fines for the e-invoicing system.

How to prepare for the UAE e-invoicing mandate

Start with your date, then work back. Tick items as you go; your progress stays in this browser, and Print gives you a paper copy.

What to ask your ERP vendor and your ASP

The mandate splits the work between the system that creates your invoices and the ASP that exchanges and reports them. Ask both sides how they fit together.

1. Which ASPs does your ERP work with, and how is the connection set up and maintained?
2. Does the e-invoice come from the same invoice that posts to the ledger, or from a copy in a separate tool?
3. Can you show an invoice and a credit note going from the ERP through the ASP, end to end, in a test environment?
4. How are e-invoices from suppliers received, and do they reach purchasing and accounts payable?
5. What happens when an invoice is rejected, and who is told?
6. Who updates the integration when the Ministry changes the data fields or the PINT AE specification?
7. Is e-invoicing in the price, or charged per invoice, per company or by the ASP separately?

For a wider set of questions, read how to choose an ERP. If you also run a Saudi company, its rules work differently: see our guide to ZATCA e-invoicing Phase 2.

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