UAE Tax Invoice: Format, Required Fields and Invoicing Without VAT

A UAE tax invoice is the invoice a VAT-registered business must issue for a taxable sale. It must show the words "Tax Invoice", your Tax Registration Number (TRN), each item with its VAT rate, and the VAT in UAE dirhams (AED). If you are not registered for VAT, you send an ordinary invoice without VAT instead.

This guide follows the VAT law (Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017) and its Executive Regulation as published by the Federal Tax Authority (FTA), checked on 1 November 2026. The English texts are translations; the Arabic text published in the Official Gazette is the legal version. To make one, start from the free UAE tax invoice template.

Can I issue an invoice without VAT in the UAE?

Yes: if you are not registered for VAT, you issue an ordinary invoice that charges no VAT. Only a registered business (a "Registrant", with a TRN) issues tax invoices, under Article 65(1) of the VAT Decree-Law. The Ministry of Finance calls the other kind a commercial invoice: "an invoice that is not a Tax Invoice" (UAE Electronic Invoicing Guidelines, section 3).

Do not add VAT, a VAT line or the words "Tax Invoice" when you are not registered. Under Article 65(4), anyone who receives an amount as tax or issues a tax invoice for it must pay that amount to the FTA. Deliberately collecting amounts as tax without being registered is also an offence under the Tax Procedures Law (Article 25).

If you are registered, the answer depends on what you sell:

• Standard-rated (5%) sales: issue a tax invoice.
• Exempt sales: these are not taxable supplies, so a tax invoice is not required; you issue an ordinary invoice.
• Wholly zero-rated sales: the Executive Regulation says you do not have to issue a tax invoice if you keep the records it lists (Article 59(3)).

When do you have to register for VAT in the UAE?

You must register when your taxable supplies and imports go over AED 375,000 in the last 12 months, or will go over it in the next 30 days. You can register by choice once your supplies or taxable expenses go over AED 187,500 (Executive Regulation, Articles 7 and 8; Decree-Law, Articles 13 and 17).

Apply within 30 days of the date you have to register. The penalty for applying late is AED 10,000 (Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017, as amended). The FTA explains the steps on its VAT registration page.

What must a UAE tax invoice include?

A full UAE tax invoice must include the 12 items listed in Article 59(1) of the Executive Regulation. The letters below are the clause letters, so you can check each one against the text.

The FTA has said the physical address can be replaced by a mailing address, such as a P.O. Box, when that is on the invoice (FTA Decision No. 7 of 2019). The standard VAT rate is 5% (Decree-Law, Article 3).

UAE tax invoice format: an example

Here is what the body of a full tax invoice looks like for a VAT-registered freelancer billing a registered company. The TRNs are placeholders.

TAX INVOICE · INV-2026-015 · Date of issue: 2 March 2026 · Date of supply: February 2026
From: Sara Haddad Studio, Business Bay, Dubai. TRN 100XXXXXXXXXXXX
To: Palm Bay Real Estate LLC, Dubai Marina, Dubai. TRN 100YYYYYYYYYYYY

Add your payment terms and bank details (IBAN) under the totals. They are not required by Article 59, but they help you get paid.

What is a simplified tax invoice in the UAE?

A simplified tax invoice is a shorter tax invoice you may use when the client is not registered for VAT, or when the client is registered and the sale is AED 10,000 or less (Article 59(5)). The FTA's guide says the AED 10,000 limit is the price including VAT (FTA guide VAT11).

It must still show:

• The words "Tax Invoice"
• Your name, address and TRN
• The date of issue
• A description of the goods or services
• The total amount and the VAT charged, in AED

Three limits apply under the current text: a simplified tax invoice must be issued on the date of supply (Article 59(13)(a)); it cannot be used where the client must account for the VAT under the reverse charge; and it cannot be used once you issue your invoices through the e-invoicing system (Article 59(16)).

How long do you have to issue a tax invoice?

You must issue a full tax invoice within 14 days from the date of supply (Decree-Law, Article 67). A simplified tax invoice is due on the date of supply. A summary invoice that covers a month of sales is due within 14 days of the end of that month (Executive Regulation, Article 59(13)(b)).

Since 14 April 2026, the penalty for not issuing a tax invoice on time is AED 2,500 for each case found (Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025).

Can a UAE tax invoice be in US dollars?

You can agree a price in another currency, but the tax invoice must show the amounts in AED. Article 59(1) asks for each item's amount, the gross amount and the VAT "expressed in AED", with the exchange rate you used. Convert at the UAE Central Bank rate on the date of supply (Decree-Law, Article 69).

What changes with UAE e-invoicing?

The UAE is moving business-to-business invoices onto an electronic system run through accredited service providers. It covers any person doing business in the UAE, whether or not they are registered for VAT, and a business with no tax registration must get a tax ID from the FTA (MoF e-invoicing guidelines, section 2).

Sources: Ministerial Decision No. 244 of 2025, Article 5, and Ministerial Resolution No. 66 of 2026, which moved the first provider deadline from 31 July to 30 October 2026. Sales to consumers are outside the system for now. Once you are in scope, an electronic invoice is due within 14 business days of the transaction.

Can Due On Time make a UAE tax invoice?

Yes, in the free invoice generator. Set the invoice title to "Tax Invoice", the tax name to VAT, the rate to 5% and the currency to AED. The PDF then prints "TAX INVOICE", a VAT column with the rate on every line, and the VAT total in dirhams. Write your TRN, the client's TRN, both addresses and the date of supply in the Notes field.

Three limits: the generator uses one VAT rate per invoice, so put zero-rated or exempt items on a separate invoice; invoices you make inside a Due On Time account do not have these title and tax name options yet; and Due On Time does not connect to the UAE e-invoicing system. The UAE tax invoice template opens in the free invoice generator with all of this filled in. For VAT in the EU and Canada, see VAT invoicing for freelancers.