What must a UAE tax invoice show?

Each field does a job. Together they let the FTA, your customer and your own records agree on who sold what, to whom, and where the VAT sits:

• The words “Tax Invoice” — the title that makes the document a tax invoice rather than an ordinary bill.
• A sequential invoice number — unique and in order, so no invoice can be lost, duplicated or backdated quietly.
• The date of issue — fixes which VAT period the sale and the tax belong to.
• Your firm's name, address and TRN — the supplier's identity and tax registration number.
• Your customer's name, address and, where registered, their TRN — so a business customer can support their own VAT recovery.
• Each line's description, quantity and price — what was actually supplied, in words a third party can understand.
• The VAT rate and amount per line, and the VAT total — VAT in the UAE is 5%, shown separately from the price.
• The total amount payable — the full figure the customer must pay, VAT included.

Because a tax invoice is not only a request for payment — it is the document your customer uses to recover the VAT they paid you, and the document your own VAT return is built from. A customer whose invoice lacks your TRN or the VAT split has a reason to send it back and pay late; a firm whose numbers jump around or repeat has a records problem the FTA can see.

The practical habit is simple: use one template, let the numbers run in sequence, and never edit an issued invoice — if something is wrong, correct it with a proper adjustment document rather than rewriting history. If your firm's position is unusual, confirm the detail with your tax adviser or the FTA rather than copying another firm's paperwork.

Then your invoice is a plain invoice: your firm's name and details, the customer's details, the work, the price and the total — but no VAT amount, no VAT split, and not the words “Tax Invoice”. Charging VAT you are not registered to charge is a serious error, and adding a fake split to look bigger helps no one.

In InstaJack, VAT is your choice on every quote and invoice — a 5% toggle you control, inherited from quote to invoice: on, and the document is a tax invoice with the split shown; off, and it is a plain invoice with no split and no tax-invoice title. The invoice carries your firm details and TRN from your settings, and your bank details so the client can pay. InstaJack does not decide your registration status and does not file your VAT return — that stays with you and your adviser. When structured e-invoicing arrives, the same fields travel electronically: see UAE e-invoicing for small firms.