E-invoicing in the UAE: deadlines, penalties and what to do this year

PDF invoices sent by email are on their way out in the UAE. The Ministry of Finance is introducing structured electronic invoices, exchanged through accredited service providers, under Ministerial Decisions 243 and 244 of September 2025. In May 2026 it revised the timetable through Ministerial Resolution 66 of 2026, responding to businesses that wanted more choice of providers and fairer pricing.

Who goes when

• A pilot for invited and voluntary businesses started on 1 July 2026.
• Businesses with revenue of 50 million dirhams or more must appoint an accredited provider by 30 October 2026, a deadline moved from 31 July, and go live on 1 January 2027.
• Businesses below 50 million dirhams must appoint a provider by 31 March 2027 and go live on 1 July 2027.
• Government entities appoint by 31 March 2027 and go live on 1 October 2027.

How invoices will travel

The system is built on Peppol, using a five-corner model: your invoice goes from you to your accredited provider, then to your customer's provider and your customer, while the Federal Tax Authority receives the data as the fifth corner. In May 2026 the ministry also opened the door to white-label partnerships with international providers, with 32 providers pre-approved at the time.

Penalties

Penalties are set out in Cabinet Decision 106 of 2025, and the amounts below are taken from the Ministry of Finance's published text. Not implementing the system, including not appointing a provider on time, costs 5,000 dirhams for each month or part of a month. Each e-invoice or electronic credit note not issued on time costs 100 dirhams, capped at 5,000 dirhams a month, and not reporting a system failure or not updating your provider costs 1,000 dirhams a day.

What to do now

• Work out which group your business is in, and put the date in the calendar.
• If you supply large companies, ask them how they plan to receive invoices from January 2027.
• Tidy your customer records: legal names, addresses and tax registration numbers exactly as registered.
• Ask your accounting software provider whether it connects to an accredited provider.
• If your deadline is March 2027, start comparing providers early in the new year.
• Until your phase begins, keep issuing tax invoices under the current rules.

Other tax changes in 2026

• VAT amendments in Federal Decree-Law No. 16 of 2025 took effect on 1 January 2026: no more self-invoices under the reverse charge, though records must be kept; a five-year limit on refunds of excess VAT; and input VAT denied where a buyer knew, or should have known, of a link to tax evasion.
• Small business relief for corporate tax now runs to tax periods ending by 31 December 2029, under Ministerial Decision No. 131 reported on 7 August 2026, with the three million dirham revenue limit unchanged.
• The 10,000 dirham penalty for late corporate tax registration is waived if the first return is filed within seven months of the end of the first tax period.

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