What Is PINT AE? The UAE E-Invoice Format Explained

PINT AE is the UAE's e-invoice format: the Peppol International (PINT) invoice specification, adapted for the United Arab Emirates and published by OpenPeppol. Every UAE e-invoice is a structured XML file built to PINT AE, which Accredited Service Providers (ASPs) check and exchange over the Peppol network. It isn't a PDF layout or a template. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) lists 51 mandatory fields for an electronic tax invoice and 49 for a commercial e-invoice.

How we wrote this guide. The facts come from OpenPeppol's PINT AE billing specification (version 1.0.4 when we checked), the MoF's "UAE Electronic Invoice Mandatory Fields" (version 1.1, 28 October 2026) and the MoF's Electronic Invoicing Guidelines (version 2.0, 26 October 2026). Octate creates PINT AE e-invoices in its own system and isn't on the MoF register of ASPs. Facts last verified: 3 November 2026.

Key points:

PINT stands for Peppol International. AE is the country code for the UAE.
A PINT AE e-invoice is XML in the UBL structure. It has no QR code or barcode.
Every line carries a tax category and, for tax invoices, the VAT and the amount payable in AED, even when you invoice in another currency.
You can't add fields of your own. If you need an industry-specific field, ask your ASP how it can be handled.

What Does PINT AE Stand For?

PINT is short for Peppol International. The MoF describes it as a family of technical specifications for business documents such as e-invoices and e-credit notes. Each country can customise them for its own rules while staying compatible with the rest of the Peppol network. AE is the two-letter country code of the United Arab Emirates.

So PINT AE is the international Peppol invoice model plus the UAE's own rules, which the MoF calls the UAE data dictionary. OpenPeppol publishes the full specification. The MoF publishes the list of mandatory fields.

What a PINT AE E-Invoice Looks Like

The Guidelines say e-invoices are issued, sent and received in XML, and won't feature a QR code or barcode. The XML follows UBL, the Universal Business Language that Peppol uses, and an invoice's root element is ubl:Invoice.

Here is a simplified excerpt of the opening fields. It isn't a complete or valid invoice.

<cbc:CustomizationID>urn:peppol:pint:billing-1@ae-1</cbc:CustomizationID>
<cbc:ProfileID>urn:peppol:bis:billing</cbc:ProfileID>
<cbc:ProfileExecutionID>00000000</cbc:ProfileExecutionID>
<cbc:ID>INV-001</cbc:ID>
<cbc:IssueDate>2026-11-03</cbc:IssueDate>
<cbc:InvoiceTypeCode>380</cbc:InvoiceTypeCode>
<cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>AED</cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>

What each line means:

CustomizationID is the specification identifier, which names PINT AE. The value above is the one in the MoF's sample invoice.
ProfileID is the business process type, also a fixed value.
ProfileExecutionID holds the 8-digit transaction type flags, explained below.
ID and IssueDate are your invoice number and date.
InvoiceTypeCode 380 marks a tax invoice where VAT applies.
DocumentCurrencyCode is the invoice currency.

Your staff never type this XML. Your accounting system or ERP produces the data, and your ASP checks it and converts it if needed.

The 51 Mandatory Fields in a Tax Invoice

The MoF groups the mandatory fields of an electronic tax invoice into six blocks:

Invoice details (9): invoice number, invoice date, invoice type code, invoice currency code, transaction type code, payment due date, business process type, specification identifier, and payment means type code.
Seller (11): name; electronic address, which is your TIN; electronic identifier, a fixed 0235 for UAE businesses; legal registration identifier and its type; tax identifier, which is your TRN; tax scheme code; address line 1; city; country subdivision; and country code.
Buyer (9): name, electronic address, electronic identifier, tax identifier, tax scheme code, address line 1, city, country subdivision and country code.
Document totals (5): sum of line net amounts, total without tax, total tax, total with tax, and amount due for payment.
Tax breakdown (4): taxable amount, tax amount, tax category code and tax category rate.
Invoice lines (13): line identifier, quantity, unit of measure code, line net amount, item net price, item gross price, price base quantity, item tax category code, item tax rate, VAT line amount in AED, line amount in AED, item name and item description.

The legal registration type must be one of four codes: TL for a commercial or trade licence, EID for an Emirates ID, PAS for a passport, or CD for a Cabinet Decision.

Commercial E-Invoices: 49 Fields

A commercial e-invoice is any invoice that isn't a tax invoice, for example for out-of-scope sales or from a seller that isn't registered for VAT. It has 49 mandatory fields. It drops the two AED line amounts, records the buyer's legal registration identifier and type instead of its tax identifier, and lets a seller without a TRN give its TIN instead.

The Transaction Type Flags

The transaction type code is 8 digits. Each digit is 1 if a scenario applies and 0 if it doesn't, in this order:

Free trade zone
Deemed supply
Margin scheme
Summary invoice
Continuous supply
Disclosed agent billing
Supply through e-commerce
Exports

A routine sale with none of these is 00000000. The Guidelines give 00000001 as the code for an export. These flags match the eight scenarios in the Guidelines, each with its own extra requirements, such as the beneficiary's details on free-zone invoices.

Invoice Type Codes: 380 and 480

380 is for UAE tax invoices where VAT applies.
480 means out of scope of VAT. Use it only when the whole invoice covers supplies outside the scope of VAT.
Don't use 480 for exempt or zero-rated supplies. They're still inside the VAT system, so the tax category on each line shows their treatment, not the invoice type code.

Credit notes have their own codes, such as 81 for a credit note related to goods or services.

Tax Categories on Every Line

Each line must carry one of six tax categories, which the Guidelines define:

Standard rate: a taxable supply at the standard VAT rate.
Zero-rated: VAT at 0%, such as qualifying exports and certain healthcare, education or real estate supplies.
Exempt: inside the scope of VAT but exempt, such as certain real estate, financial and local passenger transport services.
Outside the scope of VAT: for example, when the place of supply is outside the UAE.
Reverse charge: domestic supplies under the reverse charge rules: oil, gas and hydrocarbons under the VAT law, and electronic devices, precious metals and stones, and metal scrap traded between registrants under Cabinet Decisions.
Margin scheme: VAT charged only on the margin, such as qualifying second-hand goods.

Imports of the goods and services covered by the import reverse charge aren't subject to e-invoicing requirements at all.

Rules That Catch People Out

These come from the MoF's clarifications in the Guidelines:

AED on every line. A tax invoice must show the VAT and the amount payable in AED for each line, even in another currency. Our guide to calculating UAE VAT covers the rounding and currency rules. When the invoice currency isn't AED, the tax accounting currency field is mandatory, and the AED total uses the Central Bank's exchange rate.
The right seller identifier. A VAT-registered seller gives its 15-digit TRN. A seller that isn't registered for VAT gives its 10-digit TIN instead, and must still give one of the two.
No custom fields. Businesses can't add optional fields of their own to PINT AE.
Advance payments. Deduct them in the Paid Amount field, and reference the earlier invoice in Preceding Invoice Reference.
Date of supply. If it differs from the invoice date, use the VAT Point Date field.
Trade licence authority. The Authority Name field has no code list. You type the issuing authority's name.
Batch numbers have their own field, for trading and manufacturing businesses that track them.
No provisional invoices. There's no e-invoice category for them, so issue an e-invoice and adjust it later with an e-credit note or an extra invoice.

How PINT AE Invoices Are Validated

OpenPeppol publishes the business rules, code lists and Schematron files for PINT AE alongside the specification. UAE-specific rules carry an AE suffix, such as IBR-177-AE, which requires the seller's TRN or TIN. Your ASP checks every invoice against these rules before sending it. An invoice that fails is rejected rather than delivered, and you have to fix it and send it again. Our guide to how UAE e-invoicing works traces what happens next.

Where to Find the Official Files

The PINT AE specification on OpenPeppol's site: the semantic model, the syntax binding, code lists, rules and Schematrons. XML examples for different scenarios are under "Download resources", according to the Guidelines.
The MoF's mandatory fields document, which lists the 51 and 49 fields.
The MoF's Guidelines, whose section 12.1 shows a human-readable sample tax invoice.

What This Means for Your Accounting System

Most PINT AE problems start as master data problems. Before go-live, check that your system holds:

For each customer: legal name, TRN or TIN, the electronic address your ASP needs, address with emirate, and the legal registration identifier and type.
For each item: a unit of measure code and the right tax category.
For each invoice: AED amounts per line when you bill in another currency, and the transaction type flags that apply.

Then follow the steps in our UAE e-invoicing guide for SMEs to appoint an ASP and test.

Where Octate Fits

Octate is cloud ERP that creates PINT AE e-invoices from sales orders, delivery notes or manual entries, in the same ledger as your sales and VAT. Octate isn't on the MoF register of ASPs. See UAE e-invoicing and accounting and VAT.

Quick Answers

What is PINT AE? The UAE's e-invoice format: the Peppol International invoice specification adapted for the UAE and published by OpenPeppol.

What is the full form of PINT AE? Peppol International, United Arab Emirates. AE is the UAE's country code.

Is PINT AE an XML format? Yes. A PINT AE e-invoice is XML in the UBL structure, with ubl:Invoice as the root element.

What is the PINT AE data dictionary? The UAE's own requirements within the PINT model. The MoF's mandatory fields document lists the fields every invoice needs, and OpenPeppol's specification holds the full model.

How many mandatory fields does a UAE e-invoice have? 51 for an electronic tax invoice and 49 for a commercial e-invoice, according to the MoF.

Is there a PINT AE sample or template? XML examples are under "Download resources" in OpenPeppol's PINT AE specification, and the MoF's Guidelines include a human-readable sample tax invoice. There's no Word or PDF template, because the invoice is data.

Does a UAE e-invoice have a QR code? No. The Guidelines say e-invoices are XML and won't feature a QR code or barcode.

What is invoice type code 380? The code for a UAE tax invoice where VAT applies. Code 480 is for invoices wholly outside the scope of VAT.

Can I add my own fields to PINT AE? No. Ask your ASP how an industry-specific requirement can be accommodated.

Which PINT AE version is current? Version 1.0.4 when we checked on 3 November 2026. Check OpenPeppol's site for the latest.

Sources

OpenPeppol: PINT AE billing specification and its invoice syntax binding
Ministry of Finance: UAE Electronic Invoice Mandatory Fields, version 1.1 (28 October 2026) and UAE Electronic Invoicing Guidelines, version 2.0 (26 October 2026), sections 3, 5.3, 10.1, 10.5, 12 and 18
Octate: UAE e-invoicing

Checked on 3 November 2026.