What has to be on a UAE tax invoice

The fields a full tax invoice must carry

The FTA is specific about this. A full tax invoice needs:

• The words “Tax Invoice”, displayed clearly
• Your name, address and TRN
• The customer's name and address — and their TRN on business orders
• A sequential invoice number, unique and unbroken
• The date of issue, and the date of supply where they differ
• A description of the goods or services, line by line
• Quantity and unit price, shown net of tax
• The amount payable excluding VAT
• The VAT rate and the VAT amount, in dirhams
• The gross amount payable
• Any discount applied, before tax is calculated
• A reverse charge note where it applies

When a simplified invoice is enough

A simplified tax invoice — shorter, without the customer's full details — is permitted for consumer sales and for supplies at or below AED 10,000.

Above that value, or for a business customer, a full tax invoice is required. This is not a formality: a business customer who receives only a simplified invoice on a AED 15,000 order cannot recover the VAT, which effectively makes you 5% more expensive than a competitor who got it right.

The fourteen-day rule

A tax invoice must be issued within fourteen days of the date of supply.

For an online store that is usually automatic, because the invoice is generated when the order is placed. It becomes a problem for merchants who issue invoices manually at month end — which is more common than you would think among businesses that moved online from a shop.

The arithmetic, since prices here include VAT

UAE consumers see VAT-inclusive prices. So the tax inside a AED 943.95 sale is 943.95 × 5 ÷ 105 = AED 44.95, and the net is AED 899.00.

It is not 943.95 × 5%, which would be AED 47.20. Getting that division the wrong way round overstates the tax on every order — a small amount each time, a real amount across a year. How the store handles this →

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A summary of published FTA requirements at the time of writing, not tax advice. Confirm your own position with a registered tax agent or the Federal Tax Authority.