BR-48
EN 16931-1 layer: en16931
Checked against Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 2026.5
What does BR-48 mean? Each VAT breakdown (BG-23) shall have a VAT category rate (BT-119), except if the Invoice is not subject to VAT.
Why did my invoice fail BR-48?
Each VAT breakdown group (BG-23) must state a VAT category rate (BT-119) as a percentage, unless the invoice is genuinely not subject to VAT. The rate together with the taxable amount justifies the tax amount for that category; for zero-rated or exempt categories the rate is normally 0.
Official rule text
Each VAT breakdown (BG-23) shall have a VAT category rate (BT-119), except if the Invoice is not subject to VAT.
Common causes
- cac:TaxCategory/cbc:Percent was omitted for a standard-rated (category S) breakdown.
- A zero-rated (Z) breakdown was written without <cbc:Percent>0</cbc:Percent>.
- The rate was placed on the line's TaxCategory but not on the document-level TaxSubtotal breakdown.
How do I fix it?
In cac:TaxSubtotal/cac:TaxCategory add <cbc:Percent>21</cbc:Percent> (use 0 for zero-rated category Z; omit only for genuinely non-VAT invoices).
Related rules
BR-01 · BR-02 · BR-03 · BR-04 · BR-05 · BR-06 · BR-07 · BR-08
Check your invoice against this rule
Paste it into the live demo, or call POST /v1/validate. See the quickstart.