What a UAE tax invoice must contain

This is the reference version: what a VAT-registered business in the UAE has to show on a full tax invoice, and why each piece belongs there. If you're not sure you should be issuing one at all — as opposed to an ordinary invoice — invoicing without VAT in the UAE covers that question first. Everything below assumes you already know you're registered.

The heading, and who's on it

A tax invoice has to say so: the words “Tax Invoice” need to be clearly displayed, not just implied by the layout — it's what tells the recipient this is a tax document, not a quote or an ordinary invoice. Beneath that heading, the invoice has to identify both sides of the transaction: your name, address and Tax Registration Number (TRN) as the supplier, and the recipient's name and address. If the recipient is VAT-registered too, their TRN belongs on the invoice as well — it's what lets them reclaim the input tax.

A number that doesn't repeat, and the right dates

Every tax invoice needs a sequential or otherwise unique invoice number. Alongside it: the date the invoice was issued, and — where it differs — the date the goods or services were actually supplied. The two dates often coincide, but not always, and where they diverge both need to appear.

What was sold, line by line

The invoice needs a description of the goods or services supplied, clear enough that the recipient can tell what they paid for. For each line, four figures belong alongside it: the unit price, the quantity, the rate of tax applied, and the amount payable in AED. Any discount offered against the price has to be shown too, rather than folded silently into a lower unit price.

The two totals

Two figures summarize the whole invoice: the gross amount payable in AED, and the tax amount payable in AED. Both are stated in AED even when the transaction itself was priced in another currency.

Two situations that need their own statement

Two circumstances call for an extra line on the face of the invoice. Where the reverse charge applies — the arrangement under which the recipient, not the supplier, accounts for the VAT — the invoice needs to say so explicitly. And where the invoice is issued in a foreign currency, it needs to state the exchange rate used, since the tax amount still has to be shown in AED regardless of what currency the rest of the invoice is denominated in.

The simplified tax invoice

Not every supply needs the full version above. The FTA also allows a simplified tax invoice for certain smaller, largely retail-style supplies, carrying fewer requirements than the list here. Whether a given supply qualifies, and exactly what the simplified version has to show, depends on the specifics of the sale — that's a question for the FTA's own guidance, not something this page will guess at.

These are the Federal Tax Authority's requirements for a UAE tax invoice, and the FTA is the authoritative source for the exact wording and any updates — see tax.gov.ae. This page is general information, not tax advice, and your own situation may call for something this summary doesn't cover.