When does e-invoicing become mandatory in the UAE?

From 1 January 2027 for businesses with revenue of AED 50 million or more, and from 1 July 2027 for businesses below that.

What is an Accredited Service Provider (ASP)?

An ASP is an FTA-approved provider that sends and receives your e-invoices on the Peppol network and reports the data to the FTA.

Does UAE e-invoicing apply to retail customers?

B2C invoices are excluded for now. The mandate currently covers B2B and business-to-government transactions.

Can I keep sending PDF invoices?

Only until your go-live date. After that, in-scope invoices must be issued as structured e-invoices through an ASP.

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UAE Business

UAE E-Invoicing 2026–2027: Deadlines Every Dubai Business Should Know

The UAE's e-invoicing mandate starts in January 2027 for large businesses and July 2027 for everyone else. Here's the timeline, the ASP deadlines and how to prepare.

Focused Folks TeamOct 24, 20266 min read

UAE E-Invoicing 2026–2027: Deadlines Every Dubai Business Should Know

The UAE is moving business invoicing onto a national e-invoicing network. Instead of emailing a PDF, VAT-registered businesses will send structured invoices through an Accredited Service Provider (ASP), with the data reported to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA).

If you run a company in Dubai, Sharjah or Abu Dhabi, the deadlines are close. Here's what's confirmed and what to do now.

This is general information, not tax advice. Dates can change, so check the latest guidance from the Ministry of Finance and the FTA at tax.gov.ae.

The UAE e-invoicing timeline

From July 2026: voluntary adoption and a pilot phase opened for businesses that want to start early.
Large businesses (revenue of AED 50 million or more): appoint an ASP by 30 October 2026 and start issuing e-invoices from 1 January 2027. The ASP deadline was moved from 31 July 2026 by an amendment announced in May 2026; the go-live date stayed the same.
All other businesses (revenue under AED 50 million): appoint an ASP by 31 March 2027 and go live on 1 July 2027.
Government entities: appoint an ASP by 31 March 2027 and go live on 1 October 2027.

The legal basis is Ministerial Decisions No. 243 and 244 of 2025, and the FTA published technical guidance on mandatory invoice fields in February 2026.

What's in scope

The mandate covers business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government invoices. Business-to-consumer (B2C) invoices are excluded for now.

Invoices must follow the Peppol PINT-AE format and travel through an FTA-approved ASP. A PDF attached to an email won't count as a valid e-invoice once your go-live date arrives.

What Dubai businesses should do now

Confirm your revenue band. That decides whether your deadline is January or July 2027.
Shortlist ASPs. Ask about pricing, how they connect to your accounting or billing software, and support in your time zone.
Clean your customer data. Every B2B customer needs correct legal names, TRNs and addresses on file.
Check your billing software. It must produce structured invoice data with all mandatory fields, not just a printed layout.
Test before go-live. Use the voluntary phase to send real invoices through the ASP and fix errors early.

Where your software fits

Most businesses won't build their own Peppol connection. Your billing or ERP system creates the invoice, and the ASP handles delivery and reporting. What matters is that your software can export clean, complete invoice data, and that your team doesn't have to retype invoices into a second system.

If you use a custom system or spreadsheets today, this is the moment to fix it. We build custom billing and inventory software for businesses in India and the UAE, designed so invoice data is structured from day one.

Running a business in the UAE and unsure your invoicing is ready? Talk to us about your setup.

UAE e-invoicing
E-invoicing Dubai
Peppol PINT-AE
Accredited Service Provider
Billing software Dubai