Key terms

This page defines the terms that the Wafeq ASP guides use. Use it when a page uses a term that you do not know.

The parties

Wafeq ASP. The e-invoicing service provider of these guides. Wafeq ASP makes UAE e-invoices, delivers them to buyers and reports them to the FTA. Its portal is portal-einvoicing.wafeq.com.

Your organization. The account of your company in the Wafeq ASP portal. Your company builds the app that uses the Wafeq ASP API. Your API keys, your OAuth client, your webhook endpoints and your subscription belong to your organization.

Your app. The software that your company builds, for example an ERP, an accounting app or an invoicing app.

Business. A company that uses your app and wants to issue e-invoices with it.

Taxpayer. A business from which your organization has an active grant. On each document that your app submits, the taxpayer is the seller. The API uses the Taxpayer ID (txpay_…) to identify a taxpayer. Outside the API, a taxpayer is known by its TRN, its TIN or its Peppol ID.

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Self-billing changes the roles

On a self-billed invoice (389) or a self-billed credit note (261), the taxpayer is the buyer. The buyer issues the document for its seller, under a self-billing agreement.

Buyer. The business that receives the document. The buyer does not need to use Wafeq ASP. Wafeq ASP delivers the document to the e-invoicing provider of the buyer on Peppol, or reports it to the FTA only.

Connection

A business does two things before your app can submit documents with that business as the seller. The business does both things itself. Your app cannot do them for the business.

Onboarding. The business appoints Wafeq ASP as its ASP in EmaraTax. Then Wafeq ASP registers the business with the FTA and on Peppol. A business does onboarding one time only, for all apps. Onboarding alone gives no app access to the business.

Grant. The permission that a business gives to your organization when it approves your app. A grant lets your app submit documents in which that business is the seller. A grant has scopes, which limit what your app can do. Its ID starts with tgr_. A business can give grants to more than one app, and it can revoke a grant at any time. Refer to Connect a taxpayer.

UAE e-invoicing

FTA. The UAE Federal Tax Authority. Wafeq ASP reports each e-invoice to the FTA.

EmaraTax. The online portal of the FTA. Businesses use it to manage their tax registrations and to select their ASP.

PINT-AE. The UAE e-invoice format and its rules. Wafeq ASP makes each e-invoice in this format. Wafeq ASP checks each e-invoice against these rules before anything leaves Wafeq ASP.

Peppol. The network that UAE businesses use to exchange e-invoices. Each business connects to Peppol through an e-invoicing provider.

ASP. Accredited Service Provider. An ASP is an e-invoicing provider that connects businesses to Peppol and reports their e-invoices to the FTA. Another name for an ASP is "access point".

Identifying a business

TRN. Tax Registration Number. In e-invoicing, TRN always means the VAT TRN. A VAT TRN has 15 digits and ends in 03. A TRN for a different tax, for example Corporate Tax, never goes on an e-invoice.

TIN. Tax Identification Number. This is the 10-digit number that the FTA gives a business.

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Where a TIN comes from

The TIN of a business is the first 10 digits of its Corporate Tax TRN. Its VAT TRN usually starts with the same 10 digits. A VAT group is different: all members of the group share one VAT TRN. For a member of a VAT group, take the TIN from the Corporate Tax TRN of that member.

Peppol ID. The address of a business on Peppol. Another name is "participant ID". A Peppol ID is a scheme code and a number. For a UAE business, the scheme is 0235 (the scheme of the FTA), and the number is the TIN. An example is 0235:1999200000. Thus you can write the Peppol ID of a UAE business from its TIN. Wafeq ASP can deliver to that address only when the business is registered on Peppol. A business outside the UAE uses the scheme of its country.

Legal registration. The registration that legally identifies a business or a person. It is one of these types:

• TL: a trade or commercial licence.
• EID: an Emirates ID.
• PAS: a passport, with its issuing country.
• CD: a Cabinet decision.

A legal registration is not the same as a TRN. A business with a TRN still needs a legal registration where the rules require one.

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TL or CL for a commercial licence?

Use TL. The UAE specification gives TL the name "Commercial/Trade license", so TL includes commercial licences. Wafeq ASP also accepts CL for a buyer, but never for a seller.