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Fatal — invoice rejected References & codes UAE-specific rule PINT-AE 2026.5

How to fix ibr-123-ae in UAE e-invoicing

What is ibr-123-ae?

ibr-123-ae is a fatal validation rule in the UAE's Peppol PINT-AE e-invoicing specification — one of the UAE-specific rules. It is checked against each invoice line and belongs to the References & codes rule group. An e-invoice that fails ibr-123-ae is rejected by the Accredited Service Provider gateway before it reaches the FTA.

What the official rule says

Line VAT Information (IBG - 30) MUST be there and can occur maximum once except in case when invoice type code is 'Out of scope of VAT' or 'Credit note related to goods or services'.
UAE impact: this is a fatal rule specific to the UAE PINT-AE profile — an invoice failing it is rejected at the Accredited Service Provider gateway before it ever reaches the FTA. A rejected invoice means resubmission delays, and late transmission risks the AED 100-per-invoice penalty under Cabinet Decision No. 106 of 2025.

Where it applies

This rule is checked against each invoice line of your UBL 2.1 invoice: 

cac:InvoiceLine | cac:CreditNoteLine
Technical test condition (Schematron) 
((../(cbc:InvoiceTypeCode | cbc:CreditNoteTypeCode) = "81" or ../(cbc:InvoiceTypeCode | cbc:CreditNoteTypeCode) = "480") and count(cac:Item/cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory) = 1) or not(../(cbc:InvoiceTypeCode | cbc:CreditNoteTypeCode) = "81" or ../(cbc:InvoiceTypeCode | cbc:CreditNoteTypeCode) = "480")

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Related rules

ibr-021 Each Invoice line (ibg-25) MUST have an Invoice line identifier (ibt-126). ibr-022 Each Invoice line (ibg-25) MUST have an invoiced quantity (ibt-129).. ibr-023 An Invoice line (ibg-25) MUST have an Invoiced quantity unit of measure code (ibt-130). ibr-024 Each Invoice line (ibg-25) MUST have an Invoice line net amount (ibt-131). ibr-025 Each Invoice line (ibg-25) MUST contain the Item name (ibt-153). ibr-026 Each Invoice line (ibg-25) MUST contain the Item net price (ibt-146). ibr-027 The Item net price (ibt-146) MUST NOT be negative. ibr-028 The Item gross price (ibt-148) MUST NOT be negative.

Rule text sourced from the official OpenPeppol PINT-AE validation artifacts (version 2026.5), refreshed weekly. Explanations are qmetrics' own guidance, not official FTA/MoF text.