Guide · UAE e-invoicing · rules as of 20 October 2026

UAE e-invoicing: who, when, and what it costs to miss

By , Managing Director, BRev Digital ·

From 1 January 2027 the largest UAE businesses stop sending PDF invoices to each other. Invoices travel as structured data, through an Accredited Service Provider, and the FTA sees each one. Here are the dates, from the Ministry of Finance’s own decisions.

The dates · Ministerial Decision No. 244 of 2025, as amended by No. 66 of 2026

Appoint a provider first, go live after.

  • Revenue of AED 50 million or more: appoint an Accredited Service Provider by 30 October 2026; live by 1 January 2027.
  • Revenue below AED 50 million: appoint a provider by 31 March 2027; live by 1 July 2027.
  • Government entities: appoint a provider by 31 March 2027; live by 1 October 2027.
  • Anyone else may join early: the pilot and voluntary adoption have been open since 1 July 2026.

The date that moved

31 July became 30 October 2026.

The provider deadline for the AED 50 million group was 31 July 2026 until Ministerial Decision No. 66 of 2026 moved it to 30 October. The go-live date, 1 January 2027, did not move. The Ministry’s own guidelines (version 1.1, June 2026) still show 31 July — the decision is what counts. The decision says revenue “equal to or exceeds” AED 50 million, so a business at exactly AED 50 million is in the first group.

How it works · five corners

Your provider checks it, sends it, and tells the FTA.

You (corner 1) raise the invoice. Your Accredited Service Provider (corner 2) validates it, converts it to the UAE format and sends it to the buyer’s provider (corner 3), who passes it to the buyer (corner 4). Both providers report the tax data to the FTA (corner 5). The format is Peppol PINT AE; your Peppol ID is 0235 followed by your 10-digit tax number. The invoice must be issued and sent within fourteen business days (Ministerial Decision No. 197 of 2026, in force 1 October 2026).

What is in, what is out

Business-to-business and government. Not consumers — yet.

In scope: invoices between businesses and to or from government. Out for now: sales to consumers, until the Minister decides otherwise; sovereign government activity; airline e-tickets; exempt or zero-rated financial services; air cargo waybills for 24 months; and, from 1 January 2027 for 24 months, supplies inside a VAT group.

Penalties

AED 5,000 a month for not being ready.

Cabinet Decision No. 106 of 2025 set AED 5,000 for each month or part of a month that a business fails to implement e-invoicing — including not appointing a provider — and AED 100 for each invoice not issued and sent in time, capped at AED 5,000 a month. The Ministry’s October 2026 programme deck lists that decision as replaced by Cabinet Decision No. 173 of 2026, whose text we could not find published. Check the amounts with the FTA before relying on them.

If you are in the first group · the next ten days

Four things before 30 October.

  • Pick a provider from the Ministry’s list — 69 were accredited as at 19 October 2026.
  • List every system that raises an invoice or credit note: accounting, ERP, billing, point of sale.
  • Check your customers’ and suppliers’ tax numbers — the Peppol ID is built from them.
  • Plan testing for November and December; go-live is 1 January 2027.

Sources · read 20 October 2026

Check every date at its source.

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