Technical20 May 2026

PINT-AE Explained: The UAE E-Invoice Format in Plain English

PINT-AE is the UAE national e-invoicing specification. We break down the mandatory fields, VAT categories, unit codes, and what they mean for your business.

What is PINT-AE?

PINT-AE stands for Peppol International Network — UAE. It is the UAE's national e-invoicing specification, published by the Federal Tax Authority and built on top of the global Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 standard.

In practice, PINT-AE defines the exact XML structure every UAE electronic invoice must follow. It specifies which fields are mandatory, what format each field must be in, and how VAT amounts must be broken down. A PDF invoice — even a well-formatted one — is not a PINT-AE invoice and will not satisfy the FTA e-invoicing mandate.

Mandatory fields at a glance

Field	PINT-AE element	Note
Invoice number	`cbc:ID`	Sequential, unique. Cannot be reused even if invoice is cancelled.
Invoice date	`cbc:IssueDate`	Date the invoice was issued (YYYY-MM-DD format).
Supply date	`cbc:TaxPointDate`	Date goods/services were delivered. Often the same as invoice date but must be explicit.
Invoice type code	`cbc:InvoiceTypeCode`	380 = Tax Invoice, 381 = Credit Note, 388 = Simplified Tax Invoice.
Currency	`cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode`	ISO 4217. Must be AED for domestic transactions.
Seller TRN	`cac:AccountingSupplierParty`	15-digit UAE Tax Registration Number. Mandatory for all B2B invoices.
Buyer TRN	`cac:AccountingCustomerParty`	Required for B2B invoices. Optional for B2C (simplified invoices).
Line items	`cac:InvoiceLine`	Each line: description, quantity, unit code, unit price, line extension amount.
VAT category	`cac:TaxCategory`	S = Standard 5%, Z = Zero-rated 0%, E = Exempt, O = Outside scope.
Tax totals	`cac:TaxTotal`	Per-category breakdown of taxable amount and tax amount. Must reconcile with line items.
Document totals	`cac:LegalMonetaryTotal`	Line extension total, tax-exclusive total, tax-inclusive total, amount due.

VAT categories — and why they matter

PINT-AE requires every line item and every document-level tax total to specify which VAT category applies. Getting the category wrong is not a formatting error — it changes the tax calculation, the buyer's ability to recover input VAT, and your FTA reporting obligations.

Standard-rated (5%)

Most goods and services sold in the UAE. The most common category for B2B transactions.

Zero-rated (0%)

Exports, international transportation, certain food items, and new residential properties. VAT is charged at 0% — the customer pays nothing but the supply is still VAT-reportable.

Exempt (0%)

Bare land, local passenger transport, financial services. Different from zero-rated — input VAT on exempt supplies cannot be recovered.

Outside scope (N/A)

Supplies made outside the UAE VAT system entirely, such as certain international services or transactions not subject to UAE VAT.

Unit codes — the field that trips everyone up

PINT-AE requires a UNECE Recommendation 20 unit code on every line item. These are standardised abbreviations, not free-text labels. Sending "hours" or "pcs" in the unit field will fail schema validation.

Common unit codes used in UAE B2B transactions:

EAEach

HRHour

DAYDay

MONMonth

KGMKilogram

MTRMetre

LTRLitre

SETSet

LSLump sum

C62Unit (generic)

Credit notes are separate documents

Under PINT-AE, a credit note is not an annotation on the original invoice — it is a standalone electronic document with invoice type code 381. It must reference the original invoice number, carry its own sequential document number, and include the same VAT breakdown as the original (with negative or reversed amounts).

This matters for your VAT return: credit notes reduce your output VAT liability for the period. The finalization engine in Faturify subtracts credit note VAT from your quarterly totals — matching the FTA's expectation for Box 1 (standard-rated supplies) reporting.

Common validation errors

The most common PINT-AE validation failures are:

1. Missing supply date (TaxPointDate) — many businesses forget this is separate from the invoice date. 2. Tax totals that don't reconcile with line items — rounding differences of even 0.01 AED will fail schema validation. 3. Wrong unit code — free-text like "pcs" or "item" is not valid. 4. Missing buyer TRN on B2B invoices — if your customer is VAT-registered, their TRN is mandatory. 5. Reusing invoice numbers — the FTA requires a strictly sequential series with no gaps and no reuse.

Faturify handles PINT-AE automatically

Valid XML, correct VAT categories, sequential numbering — all generated for you. No spec-reading required.

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