E-invoices no longer have to be stored in the UAE
Since 1 October 2026, the e-invoicing rules no longer say where you store your e-invoices. You keep them for the period set by the Tax Procedures Law, keep them intact, and produce them to the FTA when asked.
The original e-invoicing decision, Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025, required every business to store its e-invoices, e-credit notes and associated data “within the State”. Ministerial Decision No. 197 of 2026 replaced that article. It came into force on 1 October 2026, and version 2.0 of the Ministry of Finance’s guidelines, published on 26 October, explains how to apply it.
What changes
- The requirement to store e-invoices inside the UAE is gone. The new Article 11 sets a retention period and a duty to produce the records, and says nothing about location.
- Records have to be kept in an electronic system that preserves their integrity, stays accessible to the FTA and can reproduce them in complete, readable form.
- Your ASP can store e-invoices for you if your contract says so. You remain responsible for meeting the retention rules.
- The same decision repealed the old rule that made issuers and recipients report a system failure to the FTA within 2 business days.
How long to keep them, under the Tax Procedures rules:
| Who | Retention period |
|---|---|
| VAT-registered business | 5 years after the tax period the records relate to |
| Other businesses | 5 years from the end of the calendar year the document was created |
| Real estate records | 7 years from the end of the calendar year the document was created |
A VAT-registered business keeps records 4 years longer during a dispute or tax audit, or after the FTA notifies it of an audit. A voluntary disclosure made in the fifth year adds 1 more year.
What to do
- Find out where your accounting system and archive store invoices, and for how long.
- If your ASP will store them, put that in the contract.
- Make sure you can pull any e-invoice and its associated data in readable form when the FTA asks.
What this means for you
If your accounting software or document archive runs on servers outside the UAE, that is now fine for e-invoices, as long as the retention and access conditions are met. “Associated data” means what is needed to confirm an e-invoice’s integrity and authenticity, not every commercial document around the deal.
How QuickTax helps
We keep your books and supporting documents on a structured system, and we are building e-invoicing into it for the end of 2026 (more on QuickTax e-invoicing). Our guide to record-keeping requirements in the UAE covers the general rules.
This update is for reference and is not tax advice. Sources: Ministerial Decision No. 197 of 2026 and the Ministry of Finance’s e-invoicing guidelines, version 2.0.