Is your bank or payment app invoice a valid UAE tax invoice?

Many small UAE companies raise their invoices straight from their business bank account or payment app. That is convenient — but the FTA does not look at which tool you used. It looks at whether each invoice shows what the law requires, whether invoices are numbered in order, and whether you can produce them years later. If you are VAT-registered, your customers also need a valid tax invoice to recover the VAT you charge them.

What a full tax invoice must show

• The words "Tax Invoice", clearly displayed.
• Your name, address and Tax Registration Number (TRN).
• The customer's name and address, and their TRN if they are VAT-registered.
• A sequential invoice number, or a unique number that identifies the invoice and its place in the sequence.
• The date of issue, and the date of supply if different.
• A description of the goods or services.
• For each item: unit price, quantity, VAT rate and amount payable in AED.
• Any discount given.
• The gross amount payable in AED.
• The VAT amount in AED — with the exchange rate used, if the invoice is in another currency.
• For reverse-charge supplies, a statement that the customer must account for the VAT, with a reference to the relevant provision.

A simplified tax invoice, with fewer details, is allowed in two cases: the customer is not VAT-registered, or the supply is AED 10,000 or less. It is not allowed for reverse-charge supplies, or for supplies that fall within e-invoicing once it applies to you.

Where invoices from any tool can fall short

• No "Tax Invoice" heading, or no TRN for you or your customer.
• Numbering that does not run in order — for example two tools issuing invoices with overlapping numbers, or a sequence that restarts.
• Amounts only in a foreign currency, with no VAT shown in AED and no exchange rate.
• Invoices issued late. A tax invoice is due within 14 days of the date of supply.
• Edited or deleted invoices. A mistake in an issued invoice is corrected with a tax credit note and, where needed, a new invoice — not by changing the original.
• No secure archive. Electronic invoices are allowed, but you must store them securely so their origin and content can be shown to be intact. Keep them for at least five years for VAT (longer for some real estate records) and seven years for Corporate Tax.

Tax credit notes

A tax credit note is issued when a return, discount or cancellation reduces the VAT on a supply. It must show:

• the words "Tax Credit Note", clearly displayed on the credit note itself;
• your name, address and TRN;
• the customer's name and address, and their TRN if they are VAT-registered;
• the date of issue;
• the original value, the correct value, the difference and the VAT on the difference, in AED;
• a short reason, and information that identifies the original supply.

Under the e-invoicing rules, electronic credit notes will have to be issued through the system within 14 days of the transaction.

What it costs to get wrong

• Failing to issue a tax invoice or a tax credit note within the legal period: AED 2,500 for each case (penalty schedule as amended from 14 April 2026).
• Your customers may be unable to recover the VAT, which damages the relationship.
• Errors found later may need a voluntary disclosure.

E-invoicing is coming for business-to-business sales

• Revenue below AED 50 million: appoint an Accredited Service Provider (an approved e-invoicing company) by 31 March 2027; e-invoicing starts on 1 July 2027.
• Revenue of AED 50 million or more: appoint by 30 October 2026; e-invoicing starts on 1 January 2027.

Business-to-business and business-to-government invoices will then have to be created in a structured format and sent through the provider. Sales to consumers are outside the system for now. Before you commit to any invoicing tool, check that it can connect to an accredited provider — see e-invoicing readiness.

A quick self-check

1. Take your last ten invoices and tick them against the list above.
2. Check the numbers run in order with no duplicates.
3. Confirm the VAT is shown in AED.
4. Make sure you can download and store every invoice and credit note.

Our monthly bookkeeping includes invoice templates set up to show the required tax invoice details, in the accounting software we provide, so invoicing, VAT and your books run from one place. See our packages, or talk to us.

Sources: Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 on VAT, as amended (Articles 62, 65, 67, 69, 70 and 78); Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2017 on the VAT Executive Regulation, as amended, including by Cabinet Decision No. 149 of 2026 (Articles 59 and 60); Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 on administrative penalties, as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025; Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025 on the electronic invoicing system (Article 6); Ministerial Decision No. 244 of 2025 on the implementation of the electronic invoicing system, as amended by Ministerial Decision No. 66 of 2026; Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on Corporate Tax (Article 56).