What is UAE e-invoicing?
UAE e-invoicing replaces PDF and paper invoices with structured e-invoices that are exchanged between businesses and reported to the tax authority as they are issued.
The legal basis is Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025 and Ministerial Decision No. 244 of 2025. Each invoice is created as PINT AE XML, validated, and sent over the Peppol network by an Accredited Service Provider. At the same time, tax data from the invoice is reported to the Federal Tax Authority. The UAE calls this model DCTCE: decentralised exchange, with continuous transaction control.
Who has to comply?
Businesses that issue B2B and B2G invoices in the UAE, phased by size: revenue of AED 50m or more first, then below AED 50m, then government entities.
Scope is defined by the Ministerial Decisions and depends on your activities, not just your size. Free zone companies, groups with several entities and businesses with unusual transactions should confirm their position with a tax adviser. Once you are in scope, you need an Accredited Service Provider both to send invoices and to receive them from your suppliers.
When does UAE e-invoicing start?
Phase 1 goes live on for businesses with revenue of AED 50m or more, which must appoint an ASP by .
Businesses below AED 50m and government entities must appoint an ASP by , then go live on and respectively. A voluntary pilot opened on . The Ministry of Finance can extend these dates; the timeline below is updated when it does.
- PilotPassed
Voluntary pilot opens
Businesses of all sizes can start issuing e-invoices voluntarily.
All businesses
- Appoint an ASPNext
ASP selection deadline
Businesses with revenue of AED 50m or more must appoint an Accredited Service Provider.
≥ AED 50m
- Go-live
Phase 1 go-live
E-invoicing becomes mandatory for businesses with revenue of AED 50m or more.
≥ AED 50m
- Appoint an ASP
ASP selection deadline
Businesses with revenue below AED 50m and government entities must appoint an Accredited Service Provider.
< AED 50mGovernment
- Go-live
Phase 2 go-live
E-invoicing becomes mandatory for businesses with revenue below AED 50m.
< AED 50m
- Go-live
Phase 3 go-live
E-invoicing becomes mandatory for government entities.
Government
Last verified 28 September 2026 against the UAE Ministry of Finance. Dates can be extended by the Ministry; this timeline is updated when they are.
What are the penalties for non-compliance?
As of 28 September 2026: AED 50,000 per violation, plus AED 5,000 per month of continued non-compliance.
Penalty amounts are set by the UAE authorities and can change, so confirm the current figures in the published penalties decision. The simplest protection is to appoint a provider early and leave your integrator time to build and test before your go-live date.
How does UAE e-invoicing work?
Through the Peppol 5-corner model: supplier ERP, supplier ASP, buyer ASP, buyer ERP, with the FTA as the fifth corner receiving tax data.
Select a corner to see what happens at each step.
The invoice travels from corner 1 to 4 over Peppol. Corners 2 and 3 report tax data to the FTA (corner 5).
Corner 2 · Ravera, for suppliers
Supplier ASP
Converts the invoice to PINT AE XML, validates it, and sends it across the Peppol network through an Access Point. Ravera runs its own Peppol Access Point.
What is PINT AE?
PINT AE is the UAE’s e-invoice format: the XML structure, data fields and validation rules every UAE e-invoice must follow.
It is the UAE specification of the Peppol International invoice model, built on Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 and expressed in UBL. Your ERP does not need to produce it directly: it sends invoice data to your provider’s API, and the provider converts and validates it. Correct master data matters most, particularly tax registration numbers, tax codes and customer details.
What does an ASP do, and what does your integrator do?
The ASP provides the accredited platform; your ERP team or integrator builds and owns the connection from your ERP to it.
Ravera is a technology provider. It does not carry out end-to-end implementation, assess readiness or give tax advice. Your tax adviser confirms scope, your integrator builds the connection, and Ravera provides the API, sandbox and accredited exchange.
What your ERP team or integrator builds
Your team or integrator builds and owns the connection.
- Extract invoice data from your ERP when invoices are posted
- Map your ERP’s fields to the provider’s API
- Write status and references back to your ERP
- Bring inbound supplier invoices into accounts payable
What Ravera provides
The accredited platform, and help at every step of testing.
- A documented, FTA-approved REST API
- API credentials and sandbox access in week 1
- Help mapping your invoice data to PINT AE
- Testing support until validation, Peppol exchange and FTA reporting all pass
- In production: exchange through our own Peppol Access Point, FTA reporting and 7-year UAE archiving
- PINT AE rule updates and local support on UAE hours
How should you prepare?
Confirm your scope and deadline, appoint a provider, then give your integrator time to build and test.
- Confirm scope and deadline with your tax adviser, using your revenue band.
- Inventory your invoicing systems: every ERP, billing platform and entity that issues invoices.
- Appoint an Accredited Service Provider before your deadline. Check the Ministry of Finance register.
- Choose who builds the connection: your ERP team or an integrator.
- Map your data to PINT AE and fix master data gaps, especially TRNs and tax codes.
- Build and test in the sandbox until validation, Peppol exchange and FTA reporting pass.
- Go live before your phase date, and keep supplier invoices flowing into accounts payable.
Ready to start? Get sandbox access or read how your ERP connects to Ravera.
FAQ
Does a PDF invoice sent by email still count as an e-invoice?
No. Under the UAE mandate, an e-invoice is a structured PINT AE XML file exchanged through Accredited Service Providers, not a PDF or a scanned document. A PDF may still be useful as a readable copy for your customer, but it does not meet the requirement on its own. Once your phase goes live, in-scope invoices must travel over the Peppol network.
Which invoices are covered by the UAE e-invoicing mandate?
The mandate covers business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) invoices. Each one must be issued as PINT AE XML and exchanged through an FTA-Accredited Service Provider over the Peppol network. The phase that applies to you depends on your annual revenue, or on whether you are a government entity. Your tax adviser can confirm how the rules apply to specific transactions.
Does the buyer also need an Accredited Service Provider?
Yes. A business that receives in-scope e-invoices needs an Accredited Service Provider to receive them over the Peppol network. The same provider normally handles both directions. Ravera does both: it issues and exchanges your outgoing invoices, and receives incoming supplier invoices through its own Peppol Access Point, delivering them to your ERP as structured data for accounts payable.
What does "select an ASP" actually mean?
Selecting an ASP means signing an agreement with an FTA-Accredited Service Provider that will issue, validate, exchange and report your e-invoices. It is a contractual step, not a technical one. After selection, your ERP team or integrator connects your ERP to the provider’s API, tests in a sandbox, and moves to production credentials before your go-live date.
Sources
- 1.UAE e-invoicing initiative · UAE Ministry of Finance
- 2.E-invoicing Accredited Service Providers register · UAE Ministry of Finance
- 3.UAE e-invoicing · Federal Tax Authority
- 4.Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 · OpenPeppol