Do UAE invoices have to be in Arabic?

The particulars of a tax invoice are listed in Article 59 of the VAT Executive Regulation. None of them is a language requirement. Most UAE businesses invoice in English, and many use bilingual English–Arabic templates as a courtesy or because a customer asks.

The particulars themselves still apply, in whatever language you use, including the words "Tax Invoice" and the VAT amount in AED.

• Tax returns and any tax data, records and documents you must give the Federal Tax Authority are to be in Arabic (Article 5(1) of Federal Decree-Law No. 28 of 2022).
• The Authority may accept them in another language, provided you supply an Arabic translation if it asks (Article 5(2)).
• You are responsible for the accuracy of any translation, bear its cost, and the Authority may rely on it (Article 5(3)).
• The translation must be approved under the UAE law on translation and submitted within the period the Authority sets (Article 5 of Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023).

In practice this means keeping English invoices is fine, as long as you can produce Arabic translations quickly during an audit or review.

A taxable person keeps accounting records and commercial books, including invoices and supporting documents, for five years after the end of the tax period they relate to (Article 3(1)(a) of Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023). Records relating to real estate are kept for 15 years (Article 71(2) of the VAT Executive Regulation). Records may be kept as originals or in electronic form.

Under the e-invoicing system, each electronic invoice must contain the data fields prescribed by the Ministry of Finance (Article 7 of Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025). The Ministerial Decision itself sets no language rule; the data standard is applied through your Accredited Service Provider.