On Thursday the Federal Tax Authority did something worth paying attention to: its Director General, H.E. Abdulaziz Al Mulla, sat in an open majlis at Al Barsha in Dubai and took questions from taxpayers directly — the second session of the Emirates Majalis initiative, launched earlier this year under the slogan "Closer to Each Other".
The session's agenda was deliberately broad — the role of Emirati Tax Agents, VAT refunds on UAE Nationals' residence construction, guidance for Emirati SME entrepreneurs. Attendees raised real problems and FTA specialist teams answered on the spot. This wasn't a policy announcement; it was the tax authority working a public feedback loop — part of the third cycle of the UAE's Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme, aimed at simplifying and reducing procedures.
So why does a community meeting matter for e-invoicing? Because of what it reveals about how the FTA intends to run the biggest procedural change in UAE tax history.
What Emirates Majalis actually is
Emirates Majalis is not a one-off PR event. The FTA describes it as a set of permanent, diverse communication channels — recurring open sessions across the Emirates where anyone affected by the tax system can raise enquiries and discuss challenges, with the explicit goals of community dialogue, tax awareness, simplified procedures, and transparency.
And it's continuing right now:
| Session | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Al Barsha Majlis | Dubai | 22 October (held) |
| Salem bin Loutia Al Ameri Majlis | Al Ain | 24 October |
| Al Rahmaniya Suburb Council | Sharjah | 27 October |
| Hilal Zayed Al Shehhi Majlis | Abu Dhabi | 3 November |
If you have a real question about how the e-invoicing mandate applies to your business — an edge case, a sector-specific scenario, a timeline concern — these sessions are a legitimate channel to put it to the Authority directly.
The pattern: guidance first, enforcement on schedule
Zoom out and Emirates Majalis slots into a pattern we've tracked all year. In September the FTA ran a dedicated awareness meeting for accredited service providers — pulling ASPs into the room to align on what businesses subject to the mandate will need. It has issued public clarifications, updated guides, and moved the ASP accreditation framework to match the rollout timeline.
That is what a regulator looks like when it's serious about voluntary compliance: it invests heavily in making the compliant path easy and well-signposted — and then enforces from the announced date. The FTA's own messaging says as much: proactive, integrated services designed around what taxpayers actually raise.
The implication for businesses is straightforward. The January 2027 and July 2027 go-live dates are not moving, and the infrastructure to comply is fully specified — PINT-AE format, accredited ASP channel, phase deadlines already in law. What's open right now is the support window: channels like the majlis, the awareness sessions, and the published guidance. That window closes when enforcement starts.
What to actually do with the next few weeks
- Confirm your phase. Revenue ≥ AED 50M → Phase 1, go-live 1 January 2027, ASP appointment by 30 October 2026 — that deadline is now six days away. Below AED 50M → Phase 2, go-live 1 July 2027, ASP by 31 March 2027. Full timeline in our UAE e-invoicing guide.
- Lock in your ASP channel. You need an FTA-accredited service provider to submit to the PINT-AE network. TrustBill submits through Microvista Technologies, an accredited ASP — so there's no separate contract, accreditation process, or per-submission fee. Details on our accredited ASP partner page.
- Use the dialogue channels. If your scenario is genuinely ambiguous — a group structure, a free-zone edge case, mixed B2B/B2C invoicing — the majlis sessions are a chance to get an authoritative answer while the FTA is in listening mode.
- Don't wait for a "perfect" start date. The voluntary phase (July–December 2026) exists exactly so businesses can pilot against real counterparties before the mandate bites. Phase 1 companies that haven't started are now inside the final pre-deadline window.
The bottom line
The FTA's listening tour is a good sign — an authority that wants compliance to work, not just penalties to collect. But the direction of travel is unchanged: PINT-AE invoices through an accredited channel, on your phase schedule. If you're a Phase 1 business, the ASP deadline is next week; if you're Phase 2, you have the quieter window right now to get integrated while everyone else watches the deadline headlines.
Start free with TrustBill — accredited ASP submission via Microvista, PINT-AE conversion, and bilingual invoicing built in, so the mandate becomes a configuration task instead of a project.
