Made a Mistake on an Invoice or E-Invoice? Credit Notes and Corrections

Quick answers

How do I fix a mistake on a sent invoice in the UAE?

Do not edit or delete it. If the amount or VAT was too high, issue a tax credit note within 14 days of the event (VAT Law, Article 62(2)); if it was too low, issue a new tax invoice for the extra amount. Wrong customer: credit the whole invoice and issue a new one. A late credit note is a AED 2,500 penalty per case.

How do I correct a sent invoice, step by step?

1. Leave the original invoice as it is. Do not delete it, change it or reuse its number.
2. Work out what went wrong: the amount or VAT too high, too low, or the wrong customer (the table below).
3. If it was too high, issue a tax credit note that points to the original invoice, gives the reason, and shows the original value, the correct value, the difference and the VAT on it.
4. If it was too low, issue a new tax invoice for the additional amount. If the customer or their TRN was wrong, credit the whole invoice and issue a new one to the right customer.
5. Send the credit note to the customer within 14 days of the event, and keep it with the original for at least 5 years after the end of the tax period (how long to keep invoices).
6. Report it in your VAT return: the credit note reduces your output VAT, and a new invoice for an undercharge is declared in the period in which you found the increase (VAT Law, Article 62(1)).

Why can't I edit an invoice I already sent?

Because the VAT Law fixes how a sent invoice is corrected: a tax credit note when the VAT goes down, a new tax invoice when it goes up (Article 62). Once a tax invoice is issued it creates your VAT liability and, if your customer is registered, their right to reclaim input VAT. They may already have claimed it. Quietly rewriting the invoice breaks that pair; a credit note keeps the trail: it points at the original and says what changed and why.

Under e-invoicing this is built into the system. The e-invoice is delivered as data to your customer's ASP and reported to the FTA, so there is nothing left to edit. Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025 names four cases that require an e-credit note: the sale is cancelled, the price is reduced, money is returned, or an administrative or numerical error has occurred (Art. 6(2)). The VAT Decree-Law says the same for tax credit notes once you are on e-invoicing (Art. 70(4)).

What do I issue for each kind of mistake?

A credit note when the amount or VAT was too high, the sale was cancelled or goods came back; a new invoice when it was too low; and both when the customer or their TRN was wrong. The VAT Law lists the cases that require an adjustment: a cancelled supply, a changed price, goods returned, a change in VAT treatment, and VAT charged in error (Article 61(1)).

A rejected e-invoice is not a mistake on a sent invoice: your ASP checks every e-invoice before sending it, and one that fails never reaches your customer. Missing customer details are one reason it can fail; see what customer details an e-invoice needs.

How do credit notes work under e-invoicing?

The same way as e-invoices: from your go-live date, a credit note is an electronic credit note sent through your ASP.

• Credit notes go the same way as invoices. An e-credit note is sent through your ASP to your customer's ASP and reported to the FTA, exactly like an e-invoice (Art. 6(2) and 6(6)). If your customer is not on e-invoicing yet, the Guidelines require a regular tax invoice, such as a PDF, alongside the e-invoice (§10.2.2); sending a readable copy of the credit note the same way keeps their records matching.
• There is no debit note. The six e-invoice types are tax invoice, tax credit note, commercial invoice and credit note, plus self-billed versions of the first two (Guidelines §10.1). When the amount goes up, VAT law asks for a new tax invoice for the additional amount (VAT Decree-Law Art. 62(1)), so you send an additional e-invoice.
• Not VAT-registered? You issue commercial e-invoices, and corrections go as e-credit notes in the same way (§10.2).

How long do I have to issue a credit note?

VAT-registered: 14 days from the date the event took place (VAT Decree-Law Art. 62(2), in force since 1 January 2023). For a return, a cancellation or a discount, that is the day it happened, not the date of the original invoice. For VAT charged in error, the law gives no separate clock from the day you notice, so issue the credit note as soon as you find the error. Under e-invoicing, a VAT-registered business keeps that VAT timeline (Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025, Art. 6(4)).

Not VAT-registered: e-invoices and e-credit notes must be sent within 14 business days from the date of the business transaction, the earlier of the transaction and the payment (Ministerial Decision No. 197 of 2026, replacing Art. 6(5) from 1 October 2026).

Missing the deadline is a AED 2,500 penalty for each case, and the same amount applies to each case of not following the rules for issuing a credit note electronically (Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017, as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025, Table 3 items 5 and 6, from 14 April 2026).

Worked example. You issued INV-0042 on 2 November 2026 for AED 10,000 plus AED 500 VAT. On 10 November the customer returns half the goods. The credit note for AED 5,000 plus AED 250 VAT is due by 24 November 2026. It reduces your output VAT, and the customer reduces their input VAT in the tax period in which they receive it (VAT Law, Article 63).

Under e-invoicing, each e-credit note not sent through the system can also be fined (Cabinet Decision No. 173 of 2026). The decisions do not set a separate penalty for appointing an ASP late. For businesses under AED 50 million, per-invoice penalties apply from 1 July 2027: AED 100 for each e-invoice or e-credit note not sent through the system, up to AED 5,000 a month (Cabinet Decision No. 173 of 2026).

What must a credit note show?

Today (VAT Executive Regulation Art. 60): the words "Tax Credit Note"; your name, address and TRN; your customer's name, address and TRN if they are registered; the date; a brief reason; enough information to identify the original supply; and the value on the original invoice, the correct value, the difference and the VAT on the difference, in AED.

After your go-live, the PINT AE format takes over and the before-and-after values rule no longer applies to an e-credit note (Art. 60(8)). The rules that matter:

• It must reference the original e-invoice, except for a volume discount (IBR-055-AE). One e-credit note can reference several e-invoices, and it can cover only part of one (Guidelines §12.2).
• An electronic tax credit note must carry a reason code from a fixed list (IBR-158-AE).
• The FTA's power to waive credit note particulars or the credit note itself (Art. 60(2)) does not apply to e-credit notes (Art. 60(8)).

Can I issue more than one credit note on the same invoice?

Yes. On today's tax credit notes, a second one starts from the value after the first, not from the original invoice value (Art. 60(1)(e)). Treating each as if it stood alone double-counts the reduction.

What does my customer have to do?

Reduce their input VAT. If your customer reclaimed input VAT on the original invoice, the credit note reduces that claim in the tax period in which they receive it (VAT Law, Article 63). That is why sending it matters as much as raising it: a credit note left unsent corrects your return and leaves theirs wrong. Under e-invoicing it reaches them through their own ASP (receiving e-invoices and credit notes). Fixing a return you already filed: how to file a VAT return.

Which details can I change without a credit note?

The law only governs the VAT side: a credit note is needed when the VAT or the amount changes (Article 61). In our reading, details that are not tax invoice particulars, such as internal notes, payment details, the due date, the language and the design, can be corrected on a PDF invoice by re-sending it with the same number; the law does not address this directly. The particulars cannot be changed that way (VAT Executive Regulation, Article 59): number and date, both parties and their TRNs, the lines, amounts, VAT rates and the currency.

A sent e-invoice can't be changed at all. If payment terms change, agree them with your customer; if anything on the invoice was wrong, credit it and issue a new one.

Frequently asked questions

Deadlines, fines and the full checklist: UAE e-invoicing hub.