Invoices outside e-invoicing
Not every invoice has to go through e-invoicing. A sale to a private individual does not, and the law names a few other transactions that are excluded. The platform keeps these out instead of sending them, tells you why, and lets you send any of them anyway.
What is kept out
| Reason | When it applies |
|---|---|
| Sale to a private individual (B2C) | A customer buying as a person, not for a business — in the UAE or abroad. Guidelines 6.2. |
| Article 42 financial services | Every line on the invoice is an exempt financial service. Excluded automatically. Art. 4.1(e). |
| Same Tax Group | An invoice to another member of your Tax Group, dated 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2028. Art. 4.1(f). |
| Government, in a sovereign capacity | Issued by a government entity acting as government, not in competition with the private sector. Art. 4.1(a). |
| Airline passenger ticket | Issued by an airline with an e-ticket. Art. 4.1(b). |
| Airline extra service | Issued by an airline with an EMD, for a passenger's extras. Art. 4.1(c). |
| Airline cargo | Issued by an airline with an air waybill, for the first 24 months. Art. 4.1(d). |
| Other | Another transaction the Minister has excluded — say what it is. Art. 4.1(g). |
An exempt supply is not the same thing. An invoice with exempt lines is still e-invoiced, with those lines marked exempt — unless every line is an exempt financial service.
A customer with no TRN
A business in the UAE must give its TRN. So when an invoice's customer has no TRN and no Peppol ID, the platform first works out whether the customer is a private individual:
| Where it comes from | What it reads |
|---|---|
| Zoho Books | The contact's customer type: Individual or Business. |
| Wafeq | The contact's party type: individual, business or government (a government customer is in scope). |
| Xero, QuickBooks, Odoo, Naqood | Nothing reliable, so you are asked once per customer. |
| Spreadsheet upload | The "Customer Type" and "E-invoicing Scope" columns. |
A private individual, anywhere: the invoice is kept out. A business in the UAE: the invoice fails, because it needs the customer's TRN — add it in your accounting system. A business abroad: sent as an export, as before.
Not known, in the UAE: the invoice waits, and a Customer tab appears on it asking whether the customer is a private individual or a business. Admins, editors and approvers can answer. The answer is remembered for that customer, and their other waiting invoices go ahead with it.
Changing a customer's answer
Every customer you have answered for is listed on Mappings, under the Customers tab. Change it there and it applies to that customer's next invoices and to any waiting now. Invoices already sent, or already kept out, stay as they are — reopen one to change it.
Credit notes follow their invoice
A credit note for an invoice that was sent is sent too — it corrects something the FTA already has. A credit note for an invoice that was kept out is kept out too. A credit note that names no invoice is decided by its customer, like any invoice.
Your Tax Group
On your company page, the Tax Group card lists the TRNs of the other members of your Tax Group. From 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2028, invoices to them are kept out. Only an admin can change the list: a TRN listed by mistake stops that customer's invoices from being sent.
Finding them, and sending one anyway
On Sent invoices, choose Excluded in the status filter. Each one has an Excluded tab saying why. Press Reopen to send it after all: it is checked and sent like any other invoice, and not kept out again. The law allows you to e-invoice an excluded transaction if you choose to.
The 14-business-day deadline
An invoice must reach the network within 14 business days of its date; one that does not can cost AED 100, up to AED 5,000 a month. For any invoice not yet sent — failed, waiting for an answer or for approval — your admins and editors are emailed on business days 3, 7 and 12. After the deadline it shows under Overdue in the status filter and is reminded about every week until it is sent or kept out.
Related
Developers pushing invoices through the API state the same thing with the einv_scope field on Push invoice.