Rules / BR-S-04 · Markdown

BR-S-04

EN 16931-1 layer: en16931

Checked against Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 2026.5

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

If a document level charge (BG-21) is standard rated (VAT category code BT-102 = S), the invoice must include the Seller VAT identifier (BT-31), the Seller tax registration identifier (BT-32) and/or the Seller tax representative VAT identifier (BT-63). Applying standard VAT to a charge is only permissible when the seller is identifiable as VAT-registered.

Official rule text

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

• A standard-rated charge (e.g. shipping) exists but no seller VAT/tax identifier was supplied.
• The seller's PartyTaxScheme (BT-31) block is missing under AccountingSupplierParty.
• The charge should be exempt or out-of-scope but was coded S by mistake.

How do I fix it?

Add a seller VAT identifier (BT-31): <cac:PartyTaxScheme><cbc:CompanyID>DE123456789</cbc:CompanyID><cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme></cac:PartyTaxScheme> under AccountingSupplierParty/Party.

Related rules

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