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BR-AG-03: Seller VAT or tax registration identifier missing for document level allowance with category M

Official message

[BR-AG-03] An Invoice that contains a Document level allowance (BG-20) where the Document level allowance VAT category code (BT-95) is "IPSI" 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).

EN 16931 (CII) · Error · Message language: English · Version: xrechnung-3.0.2-validator-configuration-2026-08-31

[BR-AG-03] An Invoice that contains a Document level allowance (BG-20) where the Document level allowance VAT category code (BT-95) is "IPSI" 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).

EN 16931 (UBL) · Error · Message language: English · Version: xrechnung-3.0.2-validator-configuration-2026-08-31

[BR-AG-03] An Invoice that contains a Document level allowance (BG-20) where the Document level allowance VAT category code (BT-95) is "IPSI" 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).

Factur-X / ZUGFeRD EN 16931 · Error · Message language: English · Version: Factur-X 1.08 / ZUGFeRD 2.4
Severity
Error The invoice is invalid and may be rejected by the recipient.
Applies to
EN 16931 (CII), EN 16931 (UBL), Factur-X / ZUGFeRD EN 16931
Affected fields
BG-20, BT-95, BT-31, BT-32, BT-63

What does this mean?

If the invoice contains a document level allowance (BG-20) with VAT category (BT-95) M (IPSI, tax for production, services and importation in Ceuta and Melilla), it must contain the Seller VAT identifier (BT-31), the Seller tax registration identifier (BT-32) or the Seller tax representative VAT identifier (BT-63). None of them is present.
CII: for the seller only ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration/ram:ID with schemeID VA (BT-31) or FC (BT-32) counts, for the tax representative only schemeID VA. UBL: for the seller any cac:PartyTaxScheme/cbc:CompanyID is sufficient, for the tax representative only tax scheme VAT counts.

Typical causes

Neither a VAT identifier nor a tax registration identifier was given for the seller.
CII: the identifier was given without schemeID or with a scheme other than VA or FC.
The VAT identifier only appears in free text, e.g. an invoice note.

How to fix the error

State the seller VAT identifier (BT-31) or the seller tax registration identifier (BT-32); if the seller has a tax representative, the representative's VAT identifier (BT-63) is sufficient as well.
CII: ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration/ram:ID with schemeID="VA" (BT-31) or schemeID="FC" (BT-32), tax representative: ram:SellerTaxRepresentativeTradeParty/ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration/ram:ID with schemeID="VA". UBL: cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:PartyTaxScheme/cbc:CompanyID, tax representative: cac:TaxRepresentativeParty/cac:PartyTaxScheme/cbc:CompanyID with cac:TaxScheme/cbc:ID = VAT.

In E-Rechnungsfreund

In the invoice form, section "Verkäufer (BG-4)" (seller), fill in the field "USt-IdNr. (BT-31/48/63)" (VAT identifier) or ("Experte" view) "Lokale Steuernummer (BT-32)" (tax registration identifier); they are output with schemeID VA or FC. Alternatively fill in the field "USt-IdNr. (BT-31/48/63)" in section "Steuervertreter (BG-11)" (tax representative, "Experte" view).

Example

Wrong

<ram:SellerTradeParty>
  <ram:Name>Sample Ltd</ram:Name>
  ...
</ram:SellerTradeParty>

Correct

<ram:SellerTradeParty>
  <ram:Name>Sample Ltd</ram:Name>
  ...
  <ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration>
    <ram:ID schemeID="VA">DE123456789</ram:ID>
  </ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration>
</ram:SellerTradeParty>
For developers: test expression per syntax

EN 16931 (CII) (CII)

Context: //ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge[ram:ChargeIndicator/udt:Indicator=false()]/ram:CategoryTradeTax[ram:CategoryCode = 'M'][upper-case(ram:TypeCode) = 'VAT']

/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeAgreement/ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration/ram:ID[@schemeID = ('VA', 'FC')] or /rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeAgreement/ram:SellerTaxRepresentativeTradeParty/ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration/ram:ID[@schemeID = 'VA']

EN 16931 (UBL) (UBL)

Context: /ubl:Invoice | /cn:CreditNote

(exists(//cac:AllowanceCharge[cbc:ChargeIndicator=false()]/cac:TaxCategory[normalize-space(cbc:ID)='M'][cac:TaxScheme/normalize-space(upper-case(cbc:ID))='VAT']) and (exists(//cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:PartyTaxScheme/cbc:CompanyID) or exists(//cac:TaxRepresentativeParty/cac:PartyTaxScheme[cac:TaxScheme/(normalize-space(upper-case(cbc:ID)) = 'VAT')]/cbc:CompanyID))) or not(exists(//cac:AllowanceCharge[cbc:ChargeIndicator=false()]/cac:TaxCategory[normalize-space(cbc:ID)='M'][cac:TaxScheme/normalize-space(upper-case(cbc:ID))='VAT']))

Factur-X / ZUGFeRD EN 16931 (CII)

Technical ID in the source: FX-SCH-A-000091

Context: //ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge[ram:ChargeIndicator/udt:Indicator='false']/ram:CategoryTradeTax[ram:CategoryCode = 'M']

/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeAgreement/ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration/ram:ID[@schemeID = ('VA', 'FC')] or /rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeAgreement/ram:SellerTaxRepresentativeTradeParty/ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration/ram:ID[@schemeID = 'VA']

Related validation rules

  • BR-AG-01: VAT breakdown for category M is missing
  • BR-AG-02: Seller VAT or tax registration identifier missing for invoice line with category M
  • BR-AG-04: Seller VAT or tax registration identifier missing for document level charge with category M
  • BR-AG-05: VAT rate of invoice line with category M (IPSI) is missing or negative
  • BR-AG-06: VAT rate of document level allowance with category M (IPSI) is missing or negative
  • BR-AG-07: VAT rate of document level charge with category M (IPSI) is missing or negative

Last updated:
Explanation of the validation rule, not legal or tax advice.