“Finance” announces the issuance of two ministerial decisions on the electronic billing system

The Ministry of Finance has announced the issuance of two ministerial decisions that define the scope of the application of the electronic billing system, the obligations of the system subject to the system and the periods of time to implement the system in the UAE, where these two decisions are a basic step in the march of digital transformation, enhancing efficiency, transparency and compliance in commercial transactions at the state level.

According to a press release issued today by the Ministry, the first ministerial decision regarding the electronic billing system clarifies that this system applies to all people who engage in works in the state, as well as all transactions between business “B2B” and the transactions between businesses and government agencies “B2G”, with the exception of some transactions and persons specified under Article “4” of the decision.

According to the statement, to ensure the ease of implementation of the system, each of the exporters and recipients of electronic bills must appoint an accredited “ASP” service provider, and the ministry will publish the list of service providers accredited in time.

The provisions of the ministerial decision referred to also require the necessity of issuing and sending an electronic bill for each business transaction, as well as issuing an electronic creditor notice in cases of cancellation of business transaction, or reducing the amount of the agreed compensation, or returning the amount completely or part of it, or having an administrative or account error in the electronic bill.

The ministerial decision also indicated that the received party must process all electronic bills and electronic credit notifications through the electronic billing system.

To ensure the ease of implementing the electronic billing system, both the exporters and recipients of electronic bills must appoint an approved “ASP” service provider, from the list of credit service providers that will be published by the ministry.

The ministerial decision indicated that each of the exporters and the recipient must fulfill their obligations stipulated in the decision, and electronic bills and electronic credit notifications must include all the required data according to what is determined by the Ministry of Finance.

It is noteworthy that the electronic billing system in the UAE is based on the international standards of “OpenPEPOPOL”, which is a global working framework for electronic documents exchange, as the application of these standards ensures improving the operational event of commercial operations and facilitating trade exchange at the international level, which allows ease of trade across borders, reduces administrative costs, enhances the efficiency of organizational compliance, in addition to that, helps standards “Openpeppol” to enhance the level of safety in transactions, ensure data safety, and facilitate the exchange of bills faster and more accurate at the level of business transactions with each other or with government agencies.

The second ministerial decision regarding the implementation of the electronic billing system shall show that the experimental stage of this system will start on July 1, 2026, where the electronic billing system is notified and applied to a set of taxpayers working, and after the end of this stage, the electronic billing system will be implemented in a mandatory way in three stages.

Works that reach or exceed the total annual revenue must be fifty million dirhams of AED.

As for the work whose annual revenues are less than fifty million dirhams, it must be appointed to appoint an accredited service provider no later than March 31, 2027, then the system is completely applied no later than July 2027.

As for government agencies, each party must appoint an accredited service provider no later than March 31, 2027, and to completely apply the electronic billing system no later than October 2027.

Despite the phased application referred to above, businesses can choose the electronic billing system application in an optional manner, even if it is not time to apply the stage that applies to it.

This gradient phased approach aims to support the companies and the concerned authorities and give them flexibility and opportunity to prepare for the transfer of the new system gradually and smoothly, ensuring compliance with the approved legal framework.

These two decisions reflect the commitment of the UAE to apply international best practices, and to provide an appropriate environment for doing business easily and easily, as well as supporting the process of transformation towards an integrated digital economy.