PINT AE Mandatory Fields: What Every UAE E-Invoice Must Contain.

PINT AE is the UAE version of the Peppol international e-invoice format. It defines the data every UAE e-invoice must carry. The Ministry of Finance lists 51 mandatory fields for an electronic tax invoice and 49 for a commercial electronic invoice. The fields cover the invoice itself, the seller, the buyer, the totals, the VAT breakdown and each invoice line. Your service provider validates this data before the e-invoice is sent, so gaps in your records show up quickly.

This page covers what goes inside an e-invoice. For how it travels, see our guide to Peppol and the five-corner model.

What PINT AE is

PINT AE adapts the Peppol International (PINT) specifications to the UAE, with local requirements set out in the Ministry's Data Dictionary. Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025 says every e-invoice and e-credit note must contain all the data fields the Ministry prescribes.

The current versions are PINT AE Billing 1.0.4 and PINT AE Self-Billing 1.0.4, released on 29 July 2026. UAE-specific fields carry the prefix BTAE.

You will not type these fields by hand. Your software and your service provider produce them from your records, so the records need to be right.

The 51 fields on an electronic tax invoice

The Ministry's Mandatory Fields document (V1.0, 23 February 2026) groups them like this:

Group	Fields	What they include
Invoice details	1 to 9	Invoice number, invoice date, invoice type code, currency, transaction type code, payment due date, business process type, specification identifier, payment means type code
Seller	10 to 20	Seller name, electronic address (TIN), electronic identifier (0235), legal registration identifier and its type, tax identifier (TRN), tax scheme (VAT), address line, city, emirate, country code (AE)
Buyer	21 to 29	Buyer name, electronic address, electronic identifier, tax identifier (TRN), tax scheme, address line, city, emirate, country code
Document totals	30 to 34	Sum of line net amounts, total without tax, total tax, total with tax, amount due
Tax breakdown	35 to 38	Taxable amount, tax amount, tax category code and rate for each category
Invoice lines	39 to 51	Line number, quantity, unit of measure, line net amount, net and gross price, price base quantity, tax category and rate, VAT line amount in AED, line amount in AED, item name, item description

How the commercial invoice differs (49 fields)

The commercial electronic invoice list drops the seller and buyer TRN fields and the two AED line amounts. It adds the buyer's legal registration identifier and its type. Its seller tax registration field may carry the TIN where the seller has no TRN, which matters for businesses that are in scope of e-invoicing but not registered for VAT.

The fields SMEs most often get wrong

These are the fields where the underlying data in a small business's records is most often missing, outdated or inconsistent.

1. TRN and TIN

Two different numbers appear on every tax invoice:

Field	What goes in it	Length
Electronic address	Tax Identification Number (TIN)	10 digits
Electronic identifier	Fixed value 0235	4 digits
Tax identifier	Tax Registration Number (TRN)	15 digits

The TIN is the first 10 digits of the TRN. Typical problems: a customer TRN missing, mistyped, or kept in a free-text note instead of the proper field. The Ministry's FAQ says VAT-registered businesses must show their TRN on every e-invoice.

If you are in a VAT group, each member uses its own TIN, not the representative member's. Branches use the legal entity's TIN or TRN, with the branch address and trade licence number.

2. Legal name and registration details

Names and registration numbers should match the registered business, not a trading nickname or a contact person. The legal registration identifier type must be one of four codes: TL (trade licence), EID (Emirates ID), PAS (passport) or CD (Cabinet Decision).

When your details registered with the FTA change, Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025 requires you to tell your ASP in writing within 5 Business Days of the FTA confirming the change.

3. Invoice type and transaction type

The invoice type code tells the network what kind of document it is:

Code	Meaning
380	Tax Invoice
381	Tax Credit Note
389	Self-Billing invoice
261	Self-Billing Credit Note
480	Invoice out of scope of tax
81	Credit note related to goods or services

The transaction type code is an 8-position string of 1s and 0s flagging special situations: free trade zone, deemed supply, margin scheme, summary invoice, continuous supply, disclosed agent billing, e-commerce supply and exports. A sale to a free zone customer, for example, has its own flag, and the Guidelines say the e-invoice must also carry the beneficiary's details. Your software needs a way to record these facts against the customer or the sale.

4. Dates

• Invoice date is mandatory, and so is the payment due date, even when payment is immediate.
• Time limits: a VAT-registered issuer must issue and transmit within the VAT law timeline, and subject to that, Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025 sets 14 days from the Date of Business Transaction. That date is the earlier of when the transaction happened or when payment was received.

Invoices raised weeks after delivery are a common habit. Once your mandatory date arrives, late issue carries a penalty of AED 100 per e-invoice, up to AED 5,000 per calendar month.

5. Amounts

• Totals must add up. Line amounts, totals and the tax breakdown must agree with each other.
• AED amounts on every line. A tax invoice needs the VAT line amount and the line amount in AED, even if you invoice in US dollars or euros.
• The right tax category. The Guidelines list six: Standard Rate, Exempt, Outside the scope of VAT, Reverse Charge, Zero rated and Margin scheme. One invoice may mix taxable and non-taxable lines.
• No negative invoices. You cannot cancel an e-invoice or issue a negative one. Corrections go through a credit note. See our guide to e-credit notes.

A quick self-check

Pull your customer list and check:

1. Does every business customer have a TRN (or TIN) in the correct field?
2. Is the legal name spelled as on their trade licence?
3. Is the address complete, with city and emirate?
4. Are free zone, export and other special customers flagged?
5. Does every invoice template include a payment due date?

The deadline to appoint a service provider is 30 October 2026 for revenue of AED 50,000,000 or more, and 31 March 2027 below that. To choose one, see our guide to Accredited Service Providers in the UAE.

How we help

We do not provide e-invoicing or act as a service provider. We get the data behind these fields right: bookkeeping, clean customer records with verified TRNs and legal names, invoice templates and tax codes set up properly inside your accounting software, and VAT returns that agree with your invoices. See our e-invoicing readiness support.

Frequently asked questions

How many mandatory fields does a UAE e-invoice have?

The Ministry of Finance Mandatory Fields document (V1.0, 23 February 2026) lists 51 mandatory fields for an electronic tax invoice and 49 for a commercial electronic invoice. An older FAQ answer mentions 50; the current document is the one to follow.

Is the TRN or the TIN used on a UAE e-invoice?

Both, in different fields. Your electronic address is your 10-digit TIN, which is the first 10 digits of your TRN, and your tax identifier field carries your full 15-digit TRN.

Can I cancel an e-invoice that has a mistake?

No. E-invoices cannot be cancelled and negative invoices are not allowed. You correct the mistake by issuing an electronic credit note that refers to the original invoice.

Prefer to hand this to an accountant? GoStride offers e-invoicing ready bookkeeping and bookkeeping services in Dubai for UAE SMEs, with one dedicated accountant and fixed monthly fees.