# BR-O-11

> An Invoice that contains a VAT breakdown group (BG-23) with a VAT category code (BT-118) "Not subject to VAT" shall not contain other VAT breakdown groups (BG-23).

Checked against Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 2026.5

Canonical: https://einvoicecheck.eu/rules/br-o-11

## Official rule text

An Invoice that contains a VAT breakdown group (BG-23) with a VAT category code (BT-118) "Not subject to VAT" shall not contain other VAT breakdown groups (BG-23).

## Why did my invoice fail BR-O-11?

If an invoice contains a VAT breakdown (BG-23) with category code 'O' (Not subject to VAT), it must not contain any other VAT breakdown groups. Category 'O' means the whole document is out of the scope of VAT, so it cannot coexist with breakdowns for taxable categories like 'S', 'Z', 'E' or 'K'.

## Common causes

- An 'O' TaxSubtotal was emitted alongside a standard-rated 'S' subtotal in the same invoice.
- Some lines were coded 'O' and others 'S'/'Z', producing mixed breakdowns.
- Category 'O' was misused for a single out-of-scope charge on an otherwise taxable invoice (that scenario is not permitted).
- Leftover subtotals from a template were not removed.

## How do I fix it?

```
Ensure only one TaxSubtotal exists and its category is 'O'; remove all other cac:TaxSubtotal groups. If the invoice genuinely mixes scopes, split it into separate invoices per VAT scope.
```