B2B e-Invoicing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE): Peppol DCTCE scheduled for 2026
The government of the United Arab Emirates launched its website dedicated to e-invoicing in the country. The Ministry of Finance portal is the reference source for official announcements and resources related to the e-invoice mandate.
With this, the UAE reaffirms its intention to introduce mandatory e-invoicing, with a schedule planned for the second quarter of 2026, to digitize the country's economy.
The electronic invoicing project in the United Arab Emirates is called the "E-Billing System". The government is developing legislation that will regulate electronic transactions, electronic accounting, and storage both in the B2B and B2G domains. In the future, it will also apply to B2C transactions.
Businesses and government entities will benefit from a new approach to invoicing where simplification, standardization, and automation will contribute to the near real-time exchange of invoices. In addition, they will facilitate seamless tax reporting to the UAE Federal Tax Authority.
The implementation timeline is still provisional. The potential dates that the UAE government may consider are:
- 2024 (fourth quarter): Development of requirements and certification procedures for service providers.
- 2025 (second quarter): Publication of e-Invoice Legislation.
- 2026 (second quarter): Phase 1 Go-live of B2B and B2G e-invoicing.
How electronic invoicing works in the United Arab Emirates: DCTCE
The UAE e-invoicing model consists of a decentralized Continuous Transaction Control or CTC model based on Peppol. This model is also referred to as the Peppol 5-corner model.
The framework comprises a five-corner model, including the issuer, the receiver, and the central tax platform. The standard used is UAE Peppol PINT, so both sender and receiver must have certified Peppol Access Points, which will validate the information and send it to the recipient. The issuer's Peppol Access Point will manage the transmission of the invoice to the tax authority. In this setup, the governmental platform serves as an invoice repository without conducting validation on the invoices.
- The seller sends the invoice data to your certified service provider.
- The service provider transforms the document to the standard electronic invoice XML format in UAE.
- The seller's supplier sends the e-invoice to the buyer's service provider. And the buyer's service provider forwards it to the buyer.
- At the same time, the seller's service provider communicates the tax data of the e-invoice to the central government platform.
- The centralized government platform sends a notification of successful receipt.
For the time being, the exchange of electronic business documents is allowed, as long as the receiver agrees to receive them in the format decided together with the issuer. They must be generated following the established standards and must be stored in the same format in which they were issued. The application of an electronic signature is mandatory to guarantee the authenticity and integrity of the documents.
Together with the administrations in each country, EDICOM continuously tracks the advancement and evolution of the laws governing electronic invoicing.
e-Invoicing Context in the UAE
The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) published Federal Law No.1 of 2006 on Business and Electronic Transactions, introducing regulations related to electronic accounting, storage, and validation processes such as authorization and document signing.
This regulation mandates that whenever electronic invoicing is required, invoices must only be created and distributed electronically, and an electronic signature must be used. These documents must also be stored electronically for ten years.
The exchange of electronic commercial papers is currently permitted, provided that the recipient agrees to receive them in the format that was chosen along with the issuer. They must be produced following the set guidelines and stored in the same format as when they were first given. To ensure the legitimacy and consistency of the documents, an electronic signature must be used.
The Federal Law of 2006 has the following objectives:
- To lay the foundations and obligations of mandatory electronic processes.
- Unify the procedure for the creation of electronic invoices and promote the development of technological infrastructures necessary to implement electronic processes.
- Facilitate the exchange of documents with public entities and business partners in a standardized and authenticated manner.
