# BR-O-04

> An Invoice that contains a Document level charge (BG-21) where the Document level charge VAT category code (BT-102) is "Not subject to VAT" shall not contain the Seller VAT identifier (BT-31), the Seller tax representative VAT identifier (BT-63) or the Buyer VAT identifier (BT-48).

Checked against Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 2026.5

Canonical: https://einvoicecheck.eu/rules/br-o-04

## Official rule text

An Invoice that contains a Document level charge (BG-21) where the Document level charge VAT category code (BT-102) is "Not subject to VAT" shall not contain the Seller VAT identifier (BT-31), the Seller tax representative VAT identifier (BT-63) or the Buyer VAT identifier (BT-48).

## Why did my invoice fail BR-O-04?

When a document-level charge (BG-21) is coded with VAT category 'O' (Not subject to VAT), the invoice must not contain the Seller VAT identifier (BT-31), the Seller tax representative VAT identifier (BT-63) or the Buyer VAT identifier (BT-48). If a charge is outside the scope of VAT, no VAT-registered identifiers are permitted on the document.

## Common causes

- A document-level charge uses category 'O' but seller VAT PartyTaxScheme is still present.
- Buyer VAT identifier (BT-48) is populated on an out-of-scope invoice.
- Tax representative VAT ID retained from a template.
- Incorrect category code applied to the charge (should be 'S', 'E' or 'Z').

## How do I fix it?

```
Remove the VAT CompanyID PartyTaxScheme blocks from Seller, tax representative and Buyer, or correct the charge's <cac:TaxCategory><cbc:ID>O</cbc:ID></cac:TaxCategory> to the applicable category.
```