The UAE Ministry of Finance has amended its e-invoicing rules to ease the compliance burden on businesses, issuing Ministerial Decision No. 197 of 2026, which revises the earlier Decision No. 243 of 2025. The changes took effect on 1 October 2026.
The most significant change allows companies that belong to the same tax group to be temporarily exempted from e-invoicing obligations for a 24-month period starting 1 January 2027, with their transactions classified as "excluded transactions" during that window.
The ministry also amended Article 11 of the regulation, dropping the requirement that electronic invoices and credit notes be physically stored inside the UAE. The focus now shifts to ensuring data is retained and accessible, rather than dictating where it must be hosted.
Separately, Article 12, which obliged businesses to notify the Federal Tax Authority of "system failures," has been repealed entirely, removing a reporting requirement many companies had flagged as burdensome.
The e-invoicing mandate currently applies to businesses with annual revenue exceeding Dh50 million, a threshold introduced earlier this year. The ministry said the amendments aim to "reduce operational burdens on businesses" and provide "greater flexibility" during the rollout, as part of a broader push toward a more business-friendly regulatory environment.
Tax advisers say the revisions reflect a more gradual, feedback-driven approach to the UAE's nationwide e-invoicing rollout, balancing the government's transparency goals with the practical concerns raised by companies preparing their systems for mandatory digital invoicing.