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BR-DE-6: Seller contact telephone number (BT-42) is missing

Official message

[BR-DE-6] Das Element "Seller contact telephone number" (BT-42) muss übermittelt werden.

XRechnung (CII) · Error · Message language: German · Version: xrechnung-3.0.2-validator-configuration-2026-08-31

[BR-DE-6] Das Element "Seller contact telephone number" (BT-42) muss übermittelt werden.

XRechnung (UBL) · Error · Message language: German · Version: xrechnung-3.0.2-validator-configuration-2026-08-31
Severity
Error The invoice is invalid and may be rejected by the recipient.
Applies to
XRechnung (CII), XRechnung (UBL)
Affected fields
BT-42

What does this mean?

The seller contact details must contain a telephone number (Seller contact telephone number, BT-42). The element is missing or contains only spaces.

Typical causes

The seller's telephone field was left empty.
The telephone number only appears in the PDF letterhead, not in the structured data.

How to fix the error

Enter a telephone number of the seller for questions about the invoice.
CII: ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:DefinedTradeContact/ram:TelephoneUniversalCommunication/ram:CompleteNumber, UBL: cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact/cbc:Telephone.
Generate and validate the invoice again.

In E-Rechnungsfreund

In the invoice form, section "Verkäufer (BG-4)" (seller), fill in the field "Telefon (BT-42/57)".

Example

Wrong

<ram:DefinedTradeContact>
  <ram:PersonName>Max Mustermann</ram:PersonName>
  <ram:EmailURIUniversalCommunication>
    <ram:URIID>rechnung@muster.de</ram:URIID>
  </ram:EmailURIUniversalCommunication>
</ram:DefinedTradeContact>

Correct

<ram:DefinedTradeContact>
  <ram:PersonName>Max Mustermann</ram:PersonName>
  <ram:TelephoneUniversalCommunication>
    <ram:CompleteNumber>+49 30 1234567</ram:CompleteNumber>
  </ram:TelephoneUniversalCommunication>
  <ram:EmailURIUniversalCommunication>
    <ram:URIID>rechnung@muster.de</ram:URIID>
  </ram:EmailURIUniversalCommunication>
</ram:DefinedTradeContact>
For developers: test expression per syntax

XRechnung (CII) (CII)

Context: /rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeAgreement/ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:DefinedTradeContact

ram:TelephoneUniversalCommunication/ram:CompleteNumber[boolean(normalize-space(.))]

XRechnung (UBL) (UBL)

Context: /ubl:Invoice/cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact | /cn:CreditNote/cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:Contact

cbc:Telephone[boolean(normalize-space(.))]

Related validation rules

  • BR-DE-1: Payment instructions (BG-16) are missing
  • BR-DE-10: Deliver to city (BT-77) is missing
  • BR-DE-11: Deliver to post code (BT-78) is missing
  • BR-DE-14: VAT category rate (BT-119) is missing in the VAT breakdown
  • BR-DE-15: Buyer reference (BT-10) is missing
  • BR-DE-16: Seller VAT ID, tax number or tax representative is missing

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