The short version

From 1 January 2027, businesses with annual revenue of AED 50 million or more must issue their B2B and B2G invoices through the electronic invoicing system. From 1 July 2027, the same applies to everyone below that threshold — which in practice means almost every business in the country.

Before either date, there is a separate deadline that is easy to miss: you must have appointed an accredited service provider. That falls on 30 October 2026 for the large group and 31 March 2027 for the rest.

The full timeline

Date What happens
1 July 2026 Pilot and voluntary phase opens to any business
30 October 2026 Providers appointed — revenue at AED 50 million or more
1 January 2027 Mandate in force — revenue at AED 50 million or more
31 March 2027 Providers appointed — everyone below AED 50 million, plus government entities
1 July 2027 Mandate in force — everyone below AED 50 million
1 October 2027 Federal and local government entities go live

What actually changes

Your invoice stops being a document you send and becomes a data set your software hands to an accredited service provider, in the PINT AE format. That provider validates it, passes it to your customer's provider, and reports it to the Federal Tax Authority. Five parties, which is why the model is called five-corner.

The practical consequence: emailing a PDF no longer counts for B2B and B2G supplies. Invoices to consumers stay outside the mandate.

Two decisions, not one

Appointing a provider and choosing invoicing software are separate. You need a provider whatever you invoice with — many businesses keep their current package and connect it. But it is worth checking early whether your software can produce PINT AE at all, because today most cannot.

We check that per package in our comparison, with a source and a verification date for every value.

Official sources

Always check deadlines against the official sources — dates can move.