About compliance in United Arab Emirates
This guide covers the United Arab Emirates electronic invoicing mandate: how the system works, who it applies to, and what you need to do to comply.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) runs a decentralized electronic invoicing system built on the PEPPOL network. Unlike clearance-based systems, the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) doesn't approve each invoice before it becomes legally valid. Instead, your Accredited Service Provider (ASP) validates and transmits your invoices, and reports tax data to the FTA in near real time. For regulatory specifications, data dictionaries, and code lists, go to the UAE Ministry of Finance (MoF) e-invoicing portal.
For complete regulatory specifications, data dictionaries, and code lists, refer to the UAE Ministry of Finance e-invoicing portal (MoF).
E-invoicing mandate
The UAE introduced VAT in 2018. Federal Decree-Law No. 16 of 2024 formally recognized electronic invoices as valid tax documents. The MoF then issued Ministerial Decision No. 243 and Ministerial Decision No. 244 of 2025 to set up the full framework. In February 2026, the MoF published the UAE Electronic Invoicing Guidelines (V1.0), which confirmed the operational details of the mandate.
| Phase | Who | ASP appointment deadline | Go-live deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot | Taxpayer Working Group (MoD-selected) | N/A | July 1, 2026 |
| Voluntary | Any business | July 31, 2026 | July 1, 2026 |
| Wave 1 | Revenue ≥ AED 50 million | July 31, 2026 | January 1, 2027 |
| Wave 2 | Revenue < AED 50 million | March 31, 2027 | July 1, 2027 |
| Wave 3 | Government entities | March 31, 2027 | October 1, 2027 |
For the most current implementation timeline, see the MoF e-invoicing page.
B2C transactions are excluded at the moment.
Tax authority
The FTA administers UAE tax compliance. The MoF governs the e-invoicing framework and accredits service providers. Use the following resources to access the official portals and regulatory documents for UAE electronic invoicing:
Compliance model
The UAE uses a Decentralized Continuous Transaction Control and Exchange (DCTCE) model built on the PEPPOL network. This is a five-corner model. Unlike clearance models, the FTA doesn't approve each invoice before it is valid. Instead, your ASP validates and transmits invoices and simultaneously reports tax data to the FTA.
See the Supported business process page for more information.
Key terms
- Accredited Service Provider (ASP)
- A service provider accredited by the MoF to validate, transmit, and report invoices on behalf of businesses.
- PEPPOL Internation, UAE national extension (PINT-AE)
- The XML invoice format required by the UAE mandate. It's based on the global PINT standard with UAE-specific fields added.
- Tax data document (TDD)
- As part of every transaction, Sovos ASP automatically generates a TDD from your invoice and reports it to the FTA. You don't need to generate or submit the TDD. Sovoshandles this. The TDD has three sections:
- Metadata identifying the parties and roles
- Extracted tax-relevant data
- Complete invoice in extended XML
How the outbound flow works
- The supplier sends invoice data to Sovos Compliance Network.
- Sovos validates the document, converts the data to PINT-AE XML, and passes it to Sovos ASP.
- Sovos ASP transmits the invoice over the PEPPOL network to the buyer ASP.
- In parallel, Sovos ASP generates a TDD and reports it to the FTA
- The buyer ASP validates the invoice, delivers it to the buyer, and also reports a TDD to the FTA.
- The FTA sends confirmation to both Sovos ASP and buyer ASP.
- Sovos forwards the final status confirmation to you.
In addition to the outbound flow, Sovos also handles an inbound flow (receiving invoices from your suppliers) through the PEPPOL network. Both flows run through a single ASP. See Send invoice flow for details.
Collect your buyer's PEPPOL Participant Identifier (`0235:` followed by their 10-digit TIN) before you can issue invoices to them.
Key requirements summary
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Invoice format | PINT-AE XML (PEPPOL International, UAE national extension) |
| Document types | Electronic Tax Invoice, Electronic Credit Note, Self-billing Invoice, Self-billing Credit Note, Commercial Invoice |
| No QR code or barcode | XML-only; no visual codes required |
| Participant identifier | 0235: followed by your 10-digit TIN |
| Transmission deadline | Within 14 days of the transaction date (non-VAT registered); in line with VAT time-of-supply rules (VAT registered) |
| Archiving | 5 years (general); 7 years (real estate); extended during audits |
| Language | Arabic and English supported |
| VAT rates | 5% and 0%, depending on the tax type, Standard, Reverse Charge, Zero-rated, Standard with additional VAT rate |