Tax invoice requirements in the UAE: what a valid VAT invoice must show

Under Article 59 of the VAT Executive Regulation, a UAE tax invoice must show the words “Tax Invoice”, the supplier’s name, address and Tax Registration Number (TRN), the buyer’s details and TRN if registered, a sequential or unique number, the dates, a description, and the prices, VAT rate and VAT in AED. A registered supplier issues it within 14 days of the supply; missing that costs AED 2,500 per case.

Key takeaways

• A full tax invoice must show 12 particulars, including the buyer's TRN where it is registered and the VAT in AED.
• A simplified tax invoice is allowed when the buyer is not VAT-registered, or is registered and the supply is AED 10,000 or less, except under the reverse charge.
• A tax invoice is due within 14 days of the date of supply, and a simplified one on the date of supply.
• Invoices in another currency must convert the VAT and the required amounts into AED at the Central Bank rate on the date of supply.
• Not issuing a tax invoice or credit note on time costs AED 2,500 for each case.

On this page 12 sections

Who issues a tax invoice

A business registered for VAT (a registrant) issues a tax invoice when it makes a taxable supply, unless one of the exceptions below applies, and delivers the original to the buyer. The duty sits in Article 65(1) of the VAT Decree-Law; registration, rates and returns have their own VAT and excise guides.

Article 65(4) adds a safeguard: anyone who issues a tax invoice, or receives an amount as VAT, must pay that amount to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) as if it were tax due. A business without a TRN that issues a tax invoice still owes the VAT shown on it; how a TRN is obtained is covered in VAT registration.

For the buyer, the invoice supports its claim for input tax, the VAT paid on purchases. Under Article 55 of the Decree-Law, input tax can be deducted in the return for the first tax period in which the buyer holds the tax invoice and has paid all or part of the price, or in the next period’s return if it was missed. Where the invoice has to be, or has been, issued as an e-invoice, the buyer must keep it in that form (Article 55(1)(c), FTA clarification VATP046). See recovering input VAT in the return.

What a full tax invoice must show

A full tax invoice must contain every particular in Article 59(1) of the Executive Regulation. The regulation sets the content, not the layout.

Full tax invoice particulars

12 required particulars

A full Tax Invoice must show: the words 'Tax Invoice'; the supplier's name, address and TRN; the recipient's name, address and TRN where it is a registrant; a sequential or unique invoice number; the date of issue; the date of supply if different; a description of the goods or services; for each item the unit price, quantity or volume, tax rate and amount payable in AED; any discount; the gross amount payable in AED; the VAT charged in AED with the exchange rate used where another currency is converted; and, where the recipient must account for the tax, a statement saying so with a reference to the relevant provision.

There is no prescribed template. A layout that covers the list puts “Tax Invoice” and the supplier’s details at the top, the buyer’s details, invoice number and dates below, then a line table (description, unit price, quantity, VAT rate, amount in AED), and at the foot the discount, the VAT and the gross total in AED.

Simplified tax invoices

A simplified tax invoice leaves out the buyer’s details and the line-by-line breakdown, and a registrant may use it in the two situations set out in Article 59(5).

When a simplified invoice is allowed

AED 10,000

Outside reverse-charge cases, a VAT registrant may issue a simplified Tax Invoice when the customer is not VAT-registered, or when the customer is registered and the consideration for the supply does not exceed AED 10,000.

A registered business customer can receive one only for supplies at or below the threshold. What the shorter document must still show:

Simplified tax invoice particulars

5 required particulars

A simplified Tax Invoice must show the words 'Tax Invoice', the supplier's name, address and TRN, the date of issue, a description of the goods or services, and the total consideration and the VAT charged in AED.

The FTA can also name cases where a full tax invoice is required even though a simplified one would otherwise be allowed (Article 59(15)).

When to issue it

The deadline runs from the date of supply and depends on the kind of invoice.

Tax invoice deadline

14 days

A VAT registrant must issue a Tax Invoice within 14 days of the date of supply; a simplified Tax Invoice must be issued on the date of supply, and a summary Tax Invoice within 14 days after the end of the calendar month of the supplies.

The 14 days come from Article 67 of the VAT Decree-Law; Articles 25 and 26 set when a supply takes place.

Summary invoices

A registrant that makes several supplies to the same buyer can list them on one summary tax invoice, and then issues no separate invoices for those supplies (Article 59(6)). Supplies made on 3, 12 and 27 March can go on one summary invoice delivered by 14 April. The dates are illustrations.

Zero-rated supplies

A wholly zero-rated supply needs no tax invoice where there are, or will be, enough records to establish its particulars (Article 59(3)). Which supplies are zero-rated is set out in VAT rates, zero-rated and exempt supplies.

Foreign currency and rounding

An invoice can be priced in another currency, but the amounts the rules require in AED must be converted into dirhams at the Central Bank rate for the date of supply.

Exchange rate for foreign currency invoices

Central Bank exchange rate at the date of supply

If a supply is made in a currency other than the UAE dirham, the amount stated on the Tax Invoice is converted into dirhams at the exchange rate approved by the Central Bank of the UAE on the date of supply.

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) publishes a daily table of exchange rates against the dirham for VAT-related obligations, and its US dollar rate is the fixed peg.

CBUAE US dollar rate

USD 1 = AED 3.6725

The UAE dirham is pegged to the US dollar at USD 1 = AED 3.6725; the CBUAE's published USD rate was 3.6725 on its exchange rates page last updated 20 October 2026.

Converting a price and applying 5% VAT can leave an amount with more than two decimal places.

Fractions of a fils

Nearest fils

Where the VAT chargeable on a supply works out to a fraction of a fils, the taxable person may round the amount to the nearest fils using mathematical rounding.

Worked example

The VAT lines on an invoice

The prices are illustrations, and the rate is the CBUAE US dollar rate above; on a real invoice the rate for the date of supply applies. The discount, the VAT rate and the VAT in AED are all required particulars.

A sale in dirhams: 10 laptops at AED 3,000 each, a discount of AED 1,500, VAT at 5%.

1. Line amount: 10 × AED 3,000 = AED 30,000.
2. After the discount: AED 30,000 - AED 1,500 = AED 28,500.
3. VAT: AED 28,500 × 5% = AED 1,425.
4. Gross amount payable: AED 28,500 + AED 1,425 = AED 29,925.

A service priced in US dollars: USD 1,100, VAT at 5%.

1. Price in AED: USD 1,100 × 3.6725 = AED 4,039.75.
2. VAT: AED 4,039.75 × 5% = AED 201.9875, rounded to the nearest fils: AED 201.99.
3. Total: AED 4,039.75 + AED 201.99 = AED 4,241.74, with the rate of 3.6725 shown on the invoice.

VAT shown in AED: AED 1,425 and AED 201.99.

Tax credit notes

When the VAT charged on a supply turns out too high, the supplier issues a tax credit note and delivers it to the buyer (Articles 62(2) and 70 of the VAT Decree-Law). Article 61(1) of the Decree-Law lists the events that call for one: the supply is cancelled, its tax treatment changes with a change in its nature, the agreed price changes, goods or services are returned with a full or partial refund, or VAT was charged or a treatment applied in error.

Tax credit note deadline

14 days

If the output tax a registrant calculated on a supply exceeds the output tax that should have been charged, the registrant must issue a Tax Credit Note within 14 days from the date on which the adjustment event occurred: the supply was cancelled, its tax treatment changed with a change in its nature, the agreed consideration was altered, goods or services were returned with the consideration refunded in full or in part, or tax was charged or a tax treatment applied in error.

Tax credit note particulars

7 required particulars

A Tax Credit Note must show the words 'Tax Credit Note'; the supplier's name, address and TRN; the recipient's name, address and TRN where it is a registrant; the date of issue; the value of the supply shown on the Tax Invoice, the correct value, the difference and the VAT on that difference in AED; a brief explanation of why it was issued; and information sufficient to identify the supply it relates to.

If the laptop buyer in the example above later gets a further AED 2,000 off, the credit note shows the value on the invoice (AED 28,500), the correct value (AED 26,500), the difference (AED 2,000) and the VAT on it (AED 2,000 × 5% = AED 100). A second credit note on the same invoice would start from AED 26,500. The figures are illustrations.

Where the VAT charged was too low instead, Article 62(1) of the Decree-Law calls for a new tax invoice for the extra tax.

Special cases

Three situations change who issues the invoice or what it must say.

Invoices raised by the buyer

A registered buyer can raise the tax invoice for a registered supplier, an arrangement known as self-billing, if the two agree in writing that the supplier will not issue invoices for those supplies. The document carries all 12 particulars and the words “Tax Invoice raised by buyer”, and any invoice the supplier then issues for the same supply is not a tax invoice (Article 59(9) and (10)).

Reverse charge supplies

Where the buyer accounts for the VAT instead of the supplier, the invoice carries particular 12: a statement that the recipient must account for the tax, with a reference to the provision of the VAT Decree-Law, and a simplified invoice is not allowed. For goods and services imported on or after 1 January 2026, a business applying the reverse charge no longer issues a tax invoice to itself, but still accounts for the VAT and keeps the supporting documents (FTA clarification VATP046).

Invoices sent electronically today

A business not yet on the e-invoicing system can already issue tax invoices by electronic means, such as a PDF, under Article 59(8). Two conditions apply: the invoice’s origin must be authentic and its content intact, and the registrant must be able to store a copy securely in line with the record-keeping rules. Credit notes follow the same conditions (Article 60(3)).

Language and record keeping

For VAT purposes invoices can be in English, and they are kept for the periods in the Tax Procedures Law and its Executive Regulation (Article 71(1) of the VAT Executive Regulation).

Language of tax documents

English accepted; Arabic translation on request

The FTA may accept tax data, records and documents in English, and may ask for some or all of them to be translated into Arabic; a translation must be approved under the UAE law on translation and submitted within the period the FTA sets.

Documents not submitted in Arabic

AED 5,000

A person conducting business, or with an obligation under the Tax Procedures Law or a tax law, that fails to submit tax data, records and documents in Arabic to the FTA when requested is penalised AED 5,000.

How long invoices are kept

5 years after the Tax Period

Unless the tax law says otherwise, a taxable person must keep its accounting records, commercial books and information for five years following the Tax Period to which they relate, plus a further four years where there is a dispute with the FTA (or until it is finally settled, if later), an ongoing tax audit, or a notified intention to audit.

VAT records relating to real estate are kept for 15 years after the end of the tax period they relate to (Article 71(2) of the VAT Executive Regulation).

Penalties

Late or missing invoices and credit notes are penalised case by case.

Tax invoice penalty

AED 2,500 per case

A taxable person that fails to issue a Tax Invoice or Tax Credit Note (or the alternative document) within the legal period, or breaks the rules for issuing them electronically, is penalised AED 2,500 for each detected case.

The amount comes from table 3 of Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017, items 4 to 6, as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 from 14 April 2026.

What changes with e-invoicing

The particulars and the VAT deadlines stay; the format and the channel change once a business falls under the Electronic Invoicing System.

E-invoices and the tax invoice rules

E-invoices must still meet the tax invoice rules

An Electronic Invoice or Electronic Credit Note is a Tax Invoice or Tax Credit Note only if it meets the requirements of Articles 59 and 60 of the VAT Executive Regulation; registrants subject to the Electronic Invoicing System must issue and transmit Tax Invoices and Tax Credit Notes in electronic form through it, and must keep the Electronic Invoice to recover the related input tax.

For an invoice issued as an e-invoice, Article 59(16) of the Executive Regulation switches off several clauses of Article 59, among them the simplified invoice, the zero-rated relief and today’s rules for electronic issue.

E-invoice issue deadline

14 Business Days

Under the e-invoicing rules in force from 1 October 2026, and subject to Article 6(4), under which a VAT-registered issuer issues and transmits within the timeline in the VAT Law, the issuer must issue and transmit an electronic invoice or electronic credit note through the Electronic Invoicing System within 14 Business Days of the Date of Business Transaction (the earlier of the date of the transaction and the date payment is received).

That limit is subject to Article 6(4) of Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025: a VAT registrant issues and transmits its e-invoices and e-credit notes within the time limits of the VAT law, so the 14 days from the date of supply, and from the adjustment event for a credit note, still apply.

PDF and paper invoices

PDF or paper invoices replaced; dual issue for buyers not yet on the system

Under e-invoicing, traditional Commercial Invoices (invoices for sales that do not need a Tax Invoice, such as exempt or out-of-scope supplies or supplies by persons not registered for VAT) in PDF or paper form must be replaced by Electronic Invoices exchanged and reported through the e-invoicing model; an electronic Tax Invoice that meets Article 65 of the VAT Decree-Law and Article 59 of the Executive Regulation can serve as the Tax Invoice for a buyer on the system, and when a supplier invoices a buyer that has not yet implemented e-invoicing, a regular Tax Invoice (for example a PDF) is required in addition to the electronic Tax Invoice.

Who falls under the system, and from when, is set out in the e-invoicing roll-out.