Do My Invoices Need to Be in Arabic in the UAE?

Is an English-only tax invoice valid in the UAE?

Yes. Article 59 of the VAT Executive Regulation lists every particular a full or simplified tax invoice must show: the words “Tax Invoice”, the supplier’s name, address and TRN, the customer’s details where they are registered, an invoice number, dates, a description, unit price, quantity, VAT rate and amounts in AED, and the exchange rate where another currency is used. None of the items is about language, and neither the VAT Law nor its Executive Regulation sets one elsewhere.

So an invoice in English, in Arabic or in both meets the invoice rules, as long as every particular is there. What makes an invoice non-compliant is a missing particular, not the language; the checklist is in how to create a VAT invoice in the UAE.

When does the FTA require Arabic?

Only when it asks. The Tax Procedures Law starts from Arabic for anything submitted to the FTA, but lets the FTA accept returns, records and documents in another language, provided you give it an Arabic translation if it requests one (Tax Procedures Law, Article 5). The Executive Regulation says the FTA may accept documents in English and, at its discretion, ask you to translate some or all of them into Arabic (Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023, Article 5).

Three conditions come with a request. The translation must be approved under the law regulating translation in the UAE, so a version you or your software produce does not meet it. It must reach the FTA within the period the FTA specifies. And you are responsible for its accuracy and bear its cost, while the FTA may rely on it (Tax Procedures Law, Article 5(3)).

Not submitting records in Arabic when the FTA asks is a AED 5,000 penalty under Table 1 item 2 of Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017, as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 (amounts in force from 14 April 2026). Such a request can come during a tax audit, when the FTA reviews your records; see what to expect from an FTA tax audit.

What do I do if the FTA asks for an Arabic translation?

Treat it as a deadline, the same as any other FTA request:

1. Read the request for two things: which documents it covers (it may be some or all of them) and the date it gives. The law leaves the period to the FTA, so the request is what you work to.
2. Gather those documents from your records. You must keep them anyway: 5 years after the end of the VAT tax period (how long to keep invoices and records).
3. Have them translated by a translator whose translations are approved under the UAE law on translation, typically a licensed legal translation office. Ask for a quote and a delivery date that fits the FTA’s deadline before you commit.
4. Submit the translations the way the request specifies, before its date, and keep a copy of what you sent and when.

Worked example. During a review, the FTA asks a trading company for Arabic translations of 15 English sales invoices and two supply contracts, within the period stated in its request. The company pays a legal translation office for all 17 documents and is responsible if a figure is mistranslated. Had it ignored the request, the penalty would be AED 5,000. A company that already issued those invoices in Arabic or both languages would only need the two contracts translated.

Do e-invoices have to be in Arabic?

No. E-invoicing changes the format of an invoice, not its language: the e-invoicing decisions, the Ministry of Finance list of mandatory fields and the PINT AE specification set no language, and the MoF Electronic Invoicing Guidelines v2.0 (section 5.1) say the framework supports both Arabic and English. The translation rule above applies to e-invoices as to any other record. E-invoicing starts on 1 January 2027 for businesses with revenue of AED 50 million or more and on 1 July 2027 for the rest; each source, with what it says, is in does a UAE e-invoice have to be in Arabic?

Should I issue bilingual invoices anyway?

It is a business choice, not a tax requirement. Two reasons to consider it: invoices already in Arabic do not need translating if the FTA asks for them, so a request covers fewer documents; and some customers ask for Arabic or bilingual documents in their own purchasing terms, which is a matter of your contract with them, not of tax law.

Whether an invoice you issued yourself in both languages would be accepted in place of an approved translation is not something the law says, so do not count on it: if the FTA asks for a translation, the conditions above still apply to anything not already in Arabic.

What should a bilingual invoice show?

Both languages on one document, not an English invoice with a translated copy attached. In practice: the “Tax Invoice” heading and the field labels in Arabic and English, Arabic text set right to left, and one set of figures (TRN, VAT breakdown and AED totals) shared by both, since they are the same numbers. Party names and line descriptions appear in whichever language you write them in, so add the Arabic wording yourself where you want it.

Do I need Arabic invoices if I am not VAT registered?

No. Article 59 applies to tax invoices issued by registrants, and no other UAE tax rule sets a language for an ordinary commercial invoice. The FTA translation rule still applies to any records it asks you for. What an unregistered business can and cannot put on its invoice is in can I invoice without VAT registration?

Can I send a client an issued invoice in another language?

Yes, as a copy of the same invoice: same number, date, lines and figures, in the other language or both. It is not a second invoice, so do not give it a new number or record it again in your VAT return. The law does not address this case directly; keeping one invoice with one number avoids the sale being counted twice.

A request from the FTA is different: there the conditions above apply, and the translation has to be an approved one.