BR-AE-02
EN 16931-1 layer: en16931
Checked against Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 2026.5
What does BR-AE-02 mean? An Invoice that contains an Invoice line (BG-25) where the Invoiced item VAT category code (BT-151) is "Reverse charge" shall contain the Seller VAT Identifier (BT-31), the Seller Tax registration identifier (BT-32) and/or the Seller tax representative VAT identifier (BT-63) and the Buyer VAT identifier (BT-48) and/or the Buyer legal registration identifier (BT-47).
Why did my invoice fail BR-AE-02?
When an invoice line (BG-25) is taxed as 'Reverse charge' (BT-151 = AE), the invoice must identify both parties for tax purposes: a Seller VAT identifier (BT-31), Seller tax registration identifier (BT-32) and/or Seller tax representative VAT identifier (BT-63), together with a Buyer VAT identifier (BT-48) and/or Buyer legal registration identifier (BT-47). Reverse charge shifts the VAT liability to the buyer, so both tax identities must be present.
Official rule text
An Invoice that contains an Invoice line (BG-25) where the Invoiced item VAT category code (BT-151) is "Reverse charge" shall contain the Seller VAT Identifier (BT-31), the Seller Tax registration identifier (BT-32) and/or the Seller tax representative VAT identifier (BT-63) and the Buyer VAT identifier (BT-48) and/or the Buyer legal registration identifier (BT-47).
Common causes
- The buyer's VAT identifier (cac:PartyTaxScheme/cbc:CompanyID under AccountingCustomerParty) is missing on a reverse-charge invoice.
- The seller provides no VAT/tax registration identifier at all.
- The buyer VAT number was placed in the wrong element (e.g. PartyLegalEntity/CompanyID without a scheme) so it isn't recognized as BT-48.
How do I fix it?
Add buyer VAT ID: <cac:AccountingCustomerParty><cac:Party><cac:PartyTaxScheme><cbc:CompanyID>BE0987654321</cbc:CompanyID><cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme></cac:PartyTaxScheme></cac:Party></cac:AccountingCustomerParty>, and ensure the seller VAT ID (BT-31) is present.
Related rules
BR-AE-01 · BR-AE-03 · BR-AE-04 · BR-AE-05 · BR-AE-06 · BR-AE-07 · BR-AE-08 · BR-AE-09
Paste it into the live demo, or call POST /v1/validate. See the quickstart.