Tax invoices for workshops in the UAE and Saudi Arabia: what has to be on them

This guide summarises the published requirements as we understand them in October 2026. Rules change, and your own situation may differ: confirm with your tax adviser or the tax authority before relying on it.

First: are you registered?

In both countries, you may only charge VAT if you are registered for it and have a tax registration number (TRN in the UAE, VAT number in Saudi Arabia). An unregistered workshop issues an ordinary invoice with no VAT on it. Charging VAT without a registration isn't a paperwork slip; it's an offence.

United Arab Emirates

A full tax invoice, which you must issue to a VAT-registered customer and usually issue to everyone, shows:

• the words "Tax Invoice" clearly on it;
• your workshop's name, address and TRN;
• the customer's name and address, and their TRN if they are registered;
• a sequential invoice number and the date of issue (and the date of supply if different);
• a description of each service and part, the quantity, the unit price, and any discount;
• the VAT rate and the VAT amount on each line or in total, and the total VAT in AED;
• the total payable.

Amounts can be shown in another currency as well, but the VAT must also be stated in dirhams.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has two forms, and which one you issue depends on the customer:

• Tax invoice (standard), for a customer that is a VAT-registered business: it carries the customer's name, address and VAT number as well as yours.
• Simplified tax invoice, for everyone else, including individuals and businesses that aren't registered. It can leave out the customer's details.

Both must be titled as what they are, carry your name and VAT number, a sequential number, the date and time, the lines with their VAT, and the totals. Since December 2021 (ZATCA's phase one), invoices must also be electronic, from a system, not handwritten or typed in a word processor, and they must carry a QR code.

What the phase-one QR code holds

Five things, encoded together: the seller's name, the seller's VAT number, the date and time of the invoice, the total including VAT, and the VAT amount. A customer or an inspector scans it to check that the printed figures match.

Phase two

Phase two (integration) requires invoices to be cleared or reported to ZATCA's platform in real time, in a set format, with a cryptographic stamp. ZATCA brings businesses into it in waves by revenue, and tells each wave in advance. Check whether and when your workshop has been notified.

Mistakes we see most

• Invoice numbers that skip or restart each year without a rule, or two branches using the same numbers.
• VAT charged before the registration came through, or a TRN typed with a digit missing.
• A Saudi "tax invoice" issued to a person (it should be simplified), or a simplified one to a registered company that needs the full form to reclaim its VAT.
• A discount taken off the total after VAT was worked out, so the VAT on the invoice is wrong.
• Credit given by editing the old invoice instead of issuing a credit note.

How WrenchDesk handles it

Set your country and registration number once. WrenchDesk then refuses VAT if there's no registration number, titles each invoice by the customer's tax type (tax invoice or simplified in Saudi Arabia), numbers invoices in sequence per your own rule, adds the phase-one QR code on Saudi invoices, and issues credit notes rather than edits. The VAT return helper adds up the period for you. Sending invoices to ZATCA's platform (phase two) is not offered yet. See a sample invoice in the free trial.