I Only Receive Invoices: Do I Need an ASP?

The receiving obligation

Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025 defines a Recipient as any person who must receive e-invoices and e-credit notes through the system. Three of its rules apply to you even if you never send an invoice:

• Appoint an ASP. The issuer and the recipient each appoint one (Art. 5), and both meet their obligations through it (Art. 6(7)).
• Process what you receive through the system. Supplier e-invoices and e-credit notes reach you through your ASP (Art. 6(3)), and are reported to the FTA (Art. 6(6)).
• Keep your ASP up to date. Tell it in writing about changes to your FTA-registered details within 5 business days of the FTA confirming them (Art. 5(3)).

You appoint only one ASP, for sending and receiving together (MoF Guidelines v2.0, §6.1). There is no separate receive-only registration: a provider that receives for you will also send for you if you start invoicing businesses later.

Does it apply to you?

Scope follows your business, not your VAT status: anyone doing business in the UAE is covered, for every business transaction, unless excluded (Art. 3; Guidelines §6.1). Buying from suppliers is part of your business, so a business that mostly buys is covered too.

Consumer-only sellers: Ministerial Decision No. 244 of 2025 keeps a business that makes only sales to individuals outside the system until the Minister decides otherwise (Art. 5(2)). Your suppliers still issue their e-invoice, addressed to a placeholder (0235:9900000098), and give you an ordinary tax invoice, such as a PDF, as well (Guidelines §10.2.2 and §18.3.3). Holding companies: Guidelines §6.3.1. Not sure where you stand? See do I need e-invoicing for my small business.

When you start receiving

Your own dates depend on your revenue, not your suppliers'. Under AED 50 million: appoint an ASP by 31 March 2027, live from 1 July 2027. AED 50 million or more: live from 1 January 2027. Government entities: live from 1 October 2027.

Large suppliers go live first, on 1 January 2027. Until you are onboarded, a supplier that is already live must send you an ordinary tax invoice (for example a PDF) as well as the e-invoice, so from January to June 2027 expect both from some suppliers (Guidelines §10.2.2). The step-by-step plan is in the checklist to 1 July 2027.

Purchase invoices and input VAT

Once a supplier is subject to e-invoicing, its tax invoice takes the form of an e-invoice (VAT Decree-Law Art. 65(5), as quoted in Guidelines §6.2). When you are both live, the e-invoice that arrives through your ASP is the tax invoice that supports your input VAT claim. A PDF the supplier also emails you is a copy.

• The usual input VAT checks still apply. Your name and TRN, the supplier's TRN, and the VAT shown. See supplier charged VAT but no TRN on the invoice.
• Credit notes arrive the same way. A supplier must send an e-credit note when a sale is cancelled, the price is reduced, money is refunded or an error is corrected (Art. 6(2)). It reduces the input VAT you can claim.
• Keep what you receive. Every e-invoice and e-credit note, with its associated data, for the tax record-keeping period (5 years after the tax period for VAT-registered businesses), ready to produce to the FTA (Art. 11 as amended by Ministerial Decision No. 197 of 2026; Guidelines §5.4). More in how long to keep invoices.

Fines for recipients

Cabinet Decision No. 173 of 2026 names recipients directly. Not implementing e-invoicing, and, once you have implemented it, not keeping up your obligations as a recipient, each cost AED 5,000, then AED 5,000 for each month it continues, up to AED 50,000 in any 12 months. Not telling your ASP about changes to your FTA details is AED 250 a day, up to AED 5,000 a month. If you are both issuer and recipient for the same violation, it is charged once (Art. 3(2)). These fines start only from your own mandatory dates. 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 to ask an ASP about receive-only and price

Each provider sets its own prices. Count how many supplier invoices and credit notes you receive in a year before you ask.

1. Do you have a receive-only or low-volume plan, and what does it cost a year? Ask for the full yearly price at your volume, not a per-invoice rate alone.
2. Do received invoices count against the free allowance? Every accredited provider must give each customer 100 free e-invoice exchanges a year, counted from the date you sign. Ask whether incoming invoices and credit notes use it up.
3. How do incoming invoices reach me? A web portal, an email with a readable copy, a download, or a connection to your accounting software. Pick what your bookkeeper will actually use.
4. Can I see a readable version of each received invoice? E-invoices arrive as XML. You will want a human-readable view or PDF for approvals and payment.
5. Do you keep my received invoices, and can I export them if I leave? You must keep them for the tax record-keeping period and produce them to the FTA on request.
6. What changes if I start invoicing businesses later? You can use only one provider for both directions, so check the price of sending before you sign.
7. Are there set-up, onboarding or exit fees? The MoF's own selection guide tells businesses to ask about hidden fees.

Compare providers on the accredited ASP list. Your Peppol ID, the address suppliers send to, is 0235 followed by your 10-digit TIN (PINT AE vs Peppol). Whether a PDF from a supplier still counts after go-live: can I still use PDF invoices after July 2027.

Frequently asked questions

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