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UAE businesses with revenue under AED 50m must appoint an accredited e-invoicing provider by 31 March 2027 and go live by 1 July 2027. Here is the plan.
If your UAE business had revenue under AED 50 million in its most recent accounting period, you must appoint a Ministry of Finance accredited e-invoicing service provider by 31 March 2027. You must then start issuing e-invoices through that provider by 1 July 2027. Businesses that sell only to consumers are outside the system for now, and missing the dates can cost AED 5,000 a month, capped at AED 50,000 in any 12 months.
Those two dates now drive e-invoicing for smaller UAE companies. The larger businesses had their turn first, and the Ministry has said there will be no more extensions. This guide covers what applies to you, what changes day to day, and a realistic plan for the months ahead.
Who has to appoint a provider by 31 March 2027
The rules sit in Ministerial Decision 243 of 2025, as amended by MD 197 of 2026. E-invoicing applies to any person doing business in the UAE, for every business transaction, unless that transaction is specifically excluded. It is not limited to VAT-registered companies.
Your deadline depends on revenue. Under MD 244 of 2025, revenue means gross income in your most recent accounting period, taken from your financial statements. If you have no financial statements, the FTA can accept other documents. If that figure is under AED 50 million, the March and July 2027 dates are yours.
These transactions are excluded:
Government sovereign activities, meaning the core functions only the state performs
International passenger air tickets and the services sold alongside them
Air cargo under an air waybill, for 24 months from go-live
Financial services that are VAT-exempt or zero-rated
Transactions between members of the same VAT tax group, for 24 months from 1 January 2027
If you sell only to consumers, you are outside the system until the Minister decides otherwise. If you are not VAT-registered and think you may be out of scope, check with your adviser before 31 March 2027. Do not assume you are exempt.
The dates, in one table
The Ministry of Finance set the timeline in MD 244 of 2025 and confirmed it in its programme presentation on 30 June 2026.
Who | Appoint an accredited provider by | Go live by |
|---|---|---|
Revenue AED 50m or more | 30 October 2026 (extended from 31 July 2026) | 1 January 2027 |
Revenue under AED 50m | 31 March 2027 | 1 July 2027 |
Government entities | 31 March 2027 | 1 October 2027 |
A pilot and voluntary use opened on 1 July 2026, so you can start early if your systems are ready. Business-to-consumer transactions stay outside the system until the Minister decides otherwise.
When the Ministry moved the large-business appointment date to 30 October 2026, it called this a final adjustment. All other deadlines stay unchanged, and no further extensions will be granted. Nothing has moved for the under-AED-50m group, and you should not plan on it moving. The official programme page is at mof.gov.ae/einvoicing.
What changes in how you invoice
E-invoicing for small businesses in the UAE works through an accredited service provider (ASP). Your ASP converts your invoice into the UAE electronic format and sends it to your customer's ASP. It also reports the tax data to the FTA. The Ministry calls this a five-corner model. The FTA does not approve each invoice: it receives the data.
A PDF, Word file, scan or email is not an e-invoice, however tidy it looks. The invoice must be structured data passing through the provider network. If you cancel a sale, reduce a price, issue a refund or correct an error, you need an e-credit note, not a manual adjustment.
The other operating rules are:
Timing: issue and send each e-invoice or e-credit note within 14 business days of the transaction (MD 197 of 2026, effective 1 October 2026). VAT-registered issuers must also follow the VAT Law timeline.
Receiving: you must be able to receive e-invoices from suppliers, not just send them.
Storage: data no longer has to be kept in the UAE. You must still keep it for the Tax Procedures Law period and produce it to the FTA on request. Our guide to UAE bookkeeping and record-keeping rules covers retention.
Data changes: tell your ASP about any change to your FTA-registered details within 5 business days.
System failures: the duty to report a system failure has been removed.
You select and onboard your provider through EmaraTax, on tax.gov.ae.
Your plan from now to 1 July 2027
This is a suggested plan. Only 31 March 2027 and 1 July 2027 are legal deadlines, but working backwards from them leaves room for problems.
By December 2026: confirm scope and map your invoicing. Check the revenue test against your latest financial statements. List your invoice types, monthly volumes, customers (business, government, consumer) and every system that produces an invoice, including that spreadsheet someone in sales still uses.
January to March 2027: choose and sign a provider. Shortlist from the Ministry of Finance list, which showed 82 accredited providers on 30 October 2026. Check the list on mof.gov.ae on the day you sign. Compare, sign, and complete onboarding on EmaraTax before 31 March 2027.
April to June 2027: connect, clean and test. Link your accounting or invoicing system to the provider. Clean customer master data: TRNs, legal names as they appear on trade licences, and addresses. Test with real invoice samples, including credit notes, and train the staff who raise invoices.
1 July 2027: go live.
Every VAT period after that: reconcile. Match your e-invoices to your VAT return. The FTA will see both data sets, and gaps between them invite questions.
Provider pricing varies with invoice volume, the number of entities you run, how much system integration you need, and the support level you want. Get written quotes covering all four, so you can compare them fairly. If you run several companies, read our piece on running a multi-entity group: filings and governance first.
Penalties if you miss a date
Cabinet Decision 173 of 2026, announced by the Ministry of Finance on 30 October 2026, replaces CD 106 of 2025. It takes effect the day after it is published in the Official Gazette.
Not implementing e-invoicing, including not appointing a provider: AED 5,000, plus AED 5,000 per month or part month, capped at AED 50,000 in any 12 months
Each e-invoice or e-credit note not issued: AED 100, up to AED 5,000 a month
Not telling your provider about data changes: AED 250 a day, up to AED 5,000 a month
Voluntary users are not penalised. For the full breakdown and the checks to run on a provider before signing, see UAE e-invoicing penalties, and how to choose an accredited provider.
How Cosmos helps
Cosmos is not an accredited e-invoicing provider. We help you choose and onboard one, and we prepare the invoice and customer data it needs so go-live is not spent fixing TRNs by hand. We also keep your books and file your UAE corporate tax and VAT returns through an FTA-registered tax agent. Your e-invoices and VAT return then come from the same records, which makes them easier to reconcile each period.
We support e-invoicing in the UAE and Saudi Arabia only. If you want senior finance oversight without a full-time hire, we also offer fractional CFO support. If you are comparing advisers, our guide on how to choose an accountant or tax agent in the UAE sets out what to ask.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need e-invoicing if my revenue is under AED 50 million? Yes, unless all your transactions are excluded or you sell only to consumers. You must appoint a provider by 31 March 2027 and go live by 1 July 2027.
Which revenue figure decides my deadline? It is gross income in your most recent accounting period, taken from your financial statements. If you have none, the FTA can accept other documents.
I only sell to consumers: am I in scope? No. Business-to-consumer transactions are outside the system until the Minister decides otherwise. If you also invoice even a few businesses, those transactions are in scope.
Is a PDF invoice an e-invoice? No. PDFs, Word files, scans and emails are unstructured, and do not count. An e-invoice is structured data sent through your accredited provider.
Do invoices between companies in my VAT group need to be e-invoices? Not for now. Transactions between members of the same VAT tax group are excluded for 24 months from 1 January 2027. Use that window to prepare, because the exclusion is temporary.
Can my accountant or software company be my provider? Only if they appear on the Ministry of Finance accredited list. Check mof.gov.ae on the day you sign, not just once.
What happens if I miss 31 March 2027? You face AED 5,000 plus AED 5,000 per month or part month, capped at AED 50,000 in any 12 months. You will also be trying to onboard a provider while everyone else is already live.
Does my Saudi company follow the same rules? No. Saudi Arabia runs a separate system through ZATCA, with its own waves and dates.
The run-up to 31 March 2027 sounds like plenty of time until you count the steps in between. If you sign a provider in January, you have time to test properly. If you sign one in late March, you will be cleaning data under pressure.
