Rules / BR-E-04 · Markdown

BR-E-04

EN 16931-1 layer: en16931

Checked against Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 2026.5

What does BR-E-04 mean? An Invoice that contains a Document level charge (BG-21) where the Document level charge VAT category code (BT-102) is "Exempt from VAT" 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).

Why did my invoice fail BR-E-04?

When a document-level charge (BG-21) is coded as "Exempt from VAT" (BT-102 = E), the invoice must include at least one of the Seller VAT identifier (BT-31), Seller tax registration identifier (BT-32), or Seller tax representative VAT identifier (BT-63). Because the exempt charge enters the VAT breakdown, a tax-registered seller identity is needed to support the exemption claim.

Official rule text

An Invoice that contains a Document level charge (BG-21) where the Document level charge VAT category code (BT-102) is "Exempt from VAT" 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).

Common causes

• Document-level charge uses category E but no seller VAT id is provided
• Seller lacks VAT registration and BT-32 tax registration id is missing
• Tax representative present but their VAT identifier (BT-63) not included

How do I fix it?

Add the seller VAT identifier (BT-31): <cac:PartyTaxScheme><cbc:CompanyID>DE123456789</cbc:CompanyID><cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme></cac:PartyTaxScheme>

Related rules

BR-E-01 · BR-E-02 · BR-E-03 · BR-E-05 · BR-E-06 · BR-E-07 · BR-E-08 · BR-E-09