At a glance
Key takeaways
- The decision is specific to supplies through vending machines.
- VAT accounting and the date of supply are unchanged.
- Operators must retain records of the goods or services, consideration, VAT and supply date.
FTA Decision No. 4 of 2018 concerns tax invoices for supplies made through vending machines. It is a narrow exception to the normal VAT invoice-issuance requirement, not a general permission for retailers or service providers to stop issuing tax invoices. A business should first determine whether its transaction is genuinely a supply made through a vending machine.
What does FTA Decision No. 4 of 2018 say?
The published decision says a VAT registrant supplying goods or services through a vending machine is not required to issue a tax invoice for that supply. It expressly leaves the date of supply and the obligation to account for VAT unchanged. The exception is therefore about the invoice document, not whether the sale is taxable or recorded in the VAT return.
The decision also requires sufficient records to establish the supplies made. At minimum, those records must show a description of the goods or services, the total consideration and VAT charged, and the date of supply under the VAT law. A machine operator should be able to reconcile its electronic sales data, cash or card settlements and VAT ledger.
Which businesses should be careful?
A staffed shop, online order, ordinary point-of-sale counter or manually billed service is not automatically a vending-machine supply simply because payment is automated. Mixed operations should separate machine transactions from ordinary invoices. If a customer needs evidence for its own VAT records, the operator should check the current legal and FTA guidance before deciding what document to provide.
- Identify each machine and the products or services supplied through it.
- Retain transaction-level data or an auditable daily summary that supports the required particulars.
- Reconcile payment processor totals, cash collections and refunds to reported revenue.
- Keep the decision and the current VAT invoicing guidance in the tax-control file.
How does this relate to general tax-invoice rules?
The VAT Executive Regulation and FTA tax-invoice guidance set the normal full and simplified invoice particulars for transactions outside this specific exception. Do not apply the decision to all low-value sales or confuse it with the separate AED 10,000 threshold relevant to simplified VAT invoices. E-invoicing implementation is a further, separate compliance workstream; review the applicable system rules for the business as they take effect.
SAIF can review a machine operator’s transaction flow, revenue reconciliation and VAT treatment. The scope should specify the legal entity, machine estate and sales channels, since an exception for one channel may not cover the others.
Read the FTA Decision No. 4 of 2018 alongside current FTA tax-invoice guidance.
Authority and verification
Official sources
- UAE Federal Tax AuthorityDecision No. 4 of 2018 on Tax InvoicesChecked 19 October 2026
- UAE Federal Tax AuthorityTax Invoices public clarificationChecked 19 October 2026
Clear answers
Frequently asked questions
Must a vending machine issue a UAE VAT tax invoice?
FTA Decision No. 4 of 2018 removes the invoice-issuance requirement for a registrant’s supply through a vending machine, subject to the decision’s record-keeping rules.
Does the vending-machine decision remove VAT?
No. The decision says it does not change the date of supply or the requirement to account for VAT.
