# BR-S-10

> A VAT breakdown (BG-23) with VAT Category code (BT-118) "Standard rate" shall not have a VAT exemption reason code (BT-121) or VAT exemption reason text (BT-120).

Checked against Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 2026.5

Canonical: https://einvoicecheck.eu/rules/br-s-10

## Official rule text

A VAT breakdown (BG-23) with VAT Category code (BT-118) "Standard rate" shall not have a VAT exemption reason code (BT-121) or VAT exemption reason text (BT-120).

## Why did my invoice fail BR-S-10?

A VAT breakdown (BG-23) coded as S ("Standard rated") must not carry a VAT exemption reason code (BT-121) or VAT exemption reason text (BT-120). Exemption reasons only make sense for non-charged categories (E, O, Z, K, G, AE); a standard-rated group is taxed and therefore needs no exemption justification.

## Common causes

- An exemption reason was templated onto every TaxSubtotal, including the standard-rated one.
- TaxCategory/TaxExemptionReason or TaxExemptionReasonCode was populated for the S group by mistake.
- Copying a subtotal from an exempt group without removing its exemption fields.

## How do I fix it?

```
Remove TaxExemptionReason/TaxExemptionReasonCode from the standard-rated subtotal so its TaxCategory is just: <cac:TaxCategory><cbc:ID>S</cbc:ID><cbc:Percent>21</cbc:Percent><cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme></cac:TaxCategory>
```