The Ministry of Finance of the United Arab Emirates (MoF) has revealed its strategy for the E-Billing System, set to launch on February 14, 2024. To simplify the flow of electronic invoices among service providers of trading entities, the plan combines Continuous Transactions Control (CTC) Reporting with an e-invoicing mandate, using a five-corner model called Decentralized Continuous Transactions Control and Exchange (DCTCE). Under this model, only authorized service providers will be permitted to send data to a centralized platform managed by the Tax Authority. Notably, the UAE’s mandate doesn’t require a clearance system, meaning that service providers of trading parties will exchange e-invoices without needing validation or intervention from the Tax Authority. While the mandate initially focuses on Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Government (B2G) transactions, it may extend to include Business-to-Consumer (B2C) transactions in future phases.
To uphold the mandate, the UAE will establish its Peppol Authority, following the Peppol PINT format, which is similar to other non-European Union Peppol jurisdictions. The regulatory process will proceed as follows:
- Q3 2024: Certification requirements and procedures for Service Providers and developing a Data Dictionary. Only certified Service Providers can send data to the Tax Authority’s central platform.
- Q2 2025: Introduction of e-Invoicing Legislation.
- December 2025: Roll-out strategy implementation.
- July 2026: Deployment of Phase 1.
