# BR-S-05

> In an Invoice line (BG-25) where the Invoiced item VAT category code (BT-151) is "Standard rated" the Invoiced item VAT rate (BT-152) shall be greater than zero.

Checked against Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 2026.5

Canonical: https://einvoicecheck.eu/rules/br-s-05

## Official rule text

In an Invoice line (BG-25) where the Invoiced item VAT category code (BT-151) is "Standard rated" the Invoiced item VAT rate (BT-152) shall be greater than zero.

## Why did my invoice fail BR-S-05?

On any standard-rated invoice line (BG-25, VAT category code BT-151 = S), the invoiced item VAT rate (BT-152) must be greater than zero. A standard rate of 0 is contradictory: a zero rate would make the line zero-rated (Z) or exempt (E), not standard rated.

## Common causes

- The line's ClassifiedTaxCategory/Percent (BT-152) is 0 or missing while ID is S.
- Category and rate are out of sync: the item is genuinely zero-rated but was coded S instead of Z.
- A data mapping bug wrote the VAT percent as 0 for standard-rated goods.

## How do I fix it?

```
Set a positive rate on the line's tax category: <cac:Item>...<cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory><cbc:ID>S</cbc:ID><cbc:Percent>21</cbc:Percent><cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme></cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory></cac:Item>
```