March 2026 / United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Finance has published the official guidelines for the implementation of mandatory e-invoicing, marking an important step in the digitalisation of the country’s tax system. The new regulatory framework defines the scope, technical model, and implementation timeline.

Scope of application E-invoicing will have a broad scope and will be mandatory for all businesses operating in the United Arab Emirates, regardless of VAT registration, with limited specific exclusions. The obligation applies to business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) transactions, while business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions remain out of scope.

Businesses will be required to issue and receive electronic invoices through an Accredited Service Provider (ASP), which must be appointed in advance in accordance with the deadlines set by the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

Implementation timeline

The rollout will take place gradually:

• Pilot and voluntary phase: from 1 July 2026.
• Mandatory phase for the private sector:
  • Businesses with annual turnover equal to or exceeding AED 50 million: ASP appointment by 31 July 2026 and implementation by 1 January 2027.
  • Businesses with annual turnover below AED 50 million: ASP appointment by 31 March 2027 and implementation by 1 July 2027.
• Government entities: ASP appointment by 31 March 2027 and mandatory compliance from 1 October 2027.

A 24-month grace period is also provided for transactions between members of the same VAT group starting from 1 January 2027. During this period, intra-group transactions will not be subject to e-invoicing requirements. The Ministry of Finance has introduced administrative penalties for non-compliance with these deadlines.

Technical model The system will be based on a five-corner Peppol model. Invoices must be issued in XML format in accordance with Peppol PINT A-E specifications and transmitted via accredited providers, with data reported to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA).

Additional requirements A list of mandatory fields for compliant e-invoices has been published. These include invoice-level information (invoice type code, transaction type indicators, specification identifier), seller identifiers (legal name, electronic address based on TIN, registration ID, TRN where applicable), buyer information, invoice totals, tax category breakdown, and detailed line-level attributes. It is also confirmed that VAT amounts and total payable amounts must always be expressed in AED. Where a foreign currency is used, conversion into AED must follow the exchange rate set by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates. Documents must generally be retained for five years and must remain accessible to the FTA at all times, even if stored abroad.