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BR-E-08: Taxable amount of category E (BT-116) does not match lines and allowances/charges

Official message

[BR-E-08] In a VAT breakdown (BG-23) where the VAT category code (BT-118) is "Exempt from VAT" the VAT category taxable amount (BT-116) shall equal the sum of Invoice line net amounts (BT-131) minus the sum of Document level allowance amounts (BT-92) plus the sum of Document level charge amounts (BT-99) where the VAT category codes (BT-151, BT-95, BT-102) are "Exempt from VAT".

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

[BR-E-08] In a VAT breakdown (BG-23) where the VAT category code (BT-118) is "Exempt from VAT" the VAT category taxable amount (BT-116) shall equal the sum of Invoice line net amounts (BT-131) minus the sum of Document level allowance amounts (BT-92) plus the sum of Document level charge amounts (BT-99) where the VAT category codes (BT-151, BT-95, BT-102) are "Exempt from VAT".

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

[BR-E-08] In a VAT breakdown (BG-23) where the VAT category code (BT-118) is "Exempt from VAT" the VAT category taxable amount (BT-116) shall equal the sum of Invoice line net amounts (BT-131) minus the sum of Document level allowance amounts (BT-92) plus the sum of Document level charge amounts (BT-99) where the VAT category codes (BT-151, BT-95, BT-102) are "Exempt from VAT".

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-23, BT-118, BT-116, BT-131, BT-92, BT-99, BT-151, BT-95, BT-102

What does this mean?

In a VAT breakdown (BG-23) with category E (Exempt from VAT) the VAT category taxable amount (BT-116) must equal the sum of the invoice line net amounts (BT-131) minus the document level allowances (BT-92) plus the document level charges (BT-99) with category E. The amount deviates from it.
The sums are taken over all entries of category E, regardless of the rate. In CII the official check tolerates a deviation of less than one currency unit, in UBL the amount must match exactly.

Typical causes

The taxable amount was entered manually or not recalculated after the lines were changed.
A document level allowance or charge of category E was not taken into account or with the wrong sign.
The lines of category E are split over several breakdowns (e.g. with and without rate); each contains only part of the sum (see also BR-E-01).

How to fix the error

Recalculate BT-116 per category: sum of BT-131 of the lines + sum of BT-99 of the charges − sum of BT-92 of the allowances, only entries with category E, rounded to two decimals.
CII: ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:ApplicableTradeTax/ram:BasisAmount, UBL: cac:TaxTotal/cac:TaxSubtotal/cbc:TaxableAmount.
Generate and validate the invoice again.

In E-Rechnungsfreund

In the invoice form, the taxable amount per VAT category and rate (BT-116) is calculated from the invoice lines and the allowances and charges when the XML is generated, and rounded to two decimals; the value in the field "Nettobetrag (BT-116)" in section "Steueraufstellung (BG-23)" (VAT breakdown) is not used for this. Enter amounts of allowances/charges with no more than two decimals.
Enter the same rate 0 for all lines and allowances/charges of category E (fields "Steuersatz % (BT-152)" and "St-Satz %", "Experte" view) so that only one breakdown results.

Example

Wrong

<!-- Lines E: 600.00 + 400.00, allowance E: 50.00 -->
<ram:ApplicableTradeTax>
  <ram:CalculatedAmount>0.00</ram:CalculatedAmount>
  <ram:TypeCode>VAT</ram:TypeCode>
  <ram:BasisAmount>1000.00</ram:BasisAmount>
  <ram:CategoryCode>E</ram:CategoryCode>
  <ram:ExemptionReasonCode>VATEX-EU-132</ram:ExemptionReasonCode>
  <ram:RateApplicablePercent>0</ram:RateApplicablePercent>
</ram:ApplicableTradeTax>

Correct

<!-- Lines E: 600.00 + 400.00, allowance E: 50.00 -->
<ram:ApplicableTradeTax>
  <ram:CalculatedAmount>0.00</ram:CalculatedAmount>
  <ram:TypeCode>VAT</ram:TypeCode>
  <ram:BasisAmount>950.00</ram:BasisAmount>
  <ram:CategoryCode>E</ram:CategoryCode>
  <ram:ExemptionReasonCode>VATEX-EU-132</ram:ExemptionReasonCode>
  <ram:RateApplicablePercent>0</ram:RateApplicablePercent>
</ram:ApplicableTradeTax>
For developers: test expression per syntax

EN 16931 (CII) (CII)

Context: //rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:ApplicableTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode[. = 'E'][upper-case(../ram:TypeCode) = 'VAT']

(../ram:BasisAmount - 1 < (round(sum(/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:IncludedSupplyChainTradeLineItem/ram:SpecifiedLineTradeSettlement[ram:ApplicableTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode = 'E']/ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementLineMonetarySummation/xs:decimal(ram:LineTotalAmount))*10*10)div 100) + (round(sum(/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge[ram:ChargeIndicator/udt:Indicator=true() and ram:CategoryTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode='E']/xs:decimal(ram:ActualAmount[1]))*10*10)div 100) - (round(sum(/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge[ram:ChargeIndicator/udt:Indicator=false() and ram:CategoryTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode='E']/xs:decimal(ram:ActualAmount[1]))*10*10)div 100)) and (../ram:BasisAmount + 1 > (round(sum(/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:IncludedSupplyChainTradeLineItem/ram:SpecifiedLineTradeSettlement[ram:ApplicableTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode = 'E']/ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementLineMonetarySummation/xs:decimal(ram:LineTotalAmount))*10*10)div 100) + (round(sum(/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge[ram:ChargeIndicator/udt:Indicator=true() and ram:CategoryTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode='E']/xs:decimal(ram:ActualAmount[1]))*10*10)div 100) - (round(sum(/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge[ram:ChargeIndicator/udt:Indicator=false() and ram:CategoryTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode='E']/xs:decimal(ram:ActualAmount[1]))*10*10)div 100))

EN 16931 (UBL) (UBL)

Context: /*/cac:TaxTotal/cac:TaxSubtotal/cac:TaxCategory[normalize-space(cbc:ID) = 'E'][cac:TaxScheme/normalize-space(upper-case(cbc:ID))='VAT']

(exists(//cac:InvoiceLine) and (xs:decimal(../cbc:TaxableAmount) = (sum(../../../cac:InvoiceLine[cac:Item/cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory/normalize-space(cbc:ID)='E']/xs:decimal(cbc:LineExtensionAmount)) + sum(../../../cac:AllowanceCharge[cbc:ChargeIndicator=true()][cac:TaxCategory/normalize-space(cbc:ID)='E']/xs:decimal(cbc:Amount)) - sum(../../../cac:AllowanceCharge[cbc:ChargeIndicator=false()][cac:TaxCategory/normalize-space(cbc:ID)='E']/xs:decimal(cbc:Amount))))) or (exists(//cac:CreditNoteLine) and (xs:decimal(../cbc:TaxableAmount) = (sum(../../../cac:CreditNoteLine[cac:Item/cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory/normalize-space(cbc:ID)='E']/xs:decimal(cbc:LineExtensionAmount)) + sum(../../../cac:AllowanceCharge[cbc:ChargeIndicator=true()][cac:TaxCategory/normalize-space(cbc:ID)='E']/xs:decimal(cbc:Amount)) - sum(../../../cac:AllowanceCharge[cbc:ChargeIndicator=false()][cac:TaxCategory/normalize-space(cbc:ID)='E']/xs:decimal(cbc:Amount)))))

Factur-X / ZUGFeRD EN 16931 (CII)

Technical ID in the source: FX-SCH-A-000228

Context: //rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:ApplicableTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode[. = 'E']

(../ram:BasisAmount - 1 < (round(sum(/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:IncludedSupplyChainTradeLineItem/ram:SpecifiedLineTradeSettlement[ram:ApplicableTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode = 'E']/ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementLineMonetarySummation/xs:decimal(ram:LineTotalAmount))*10*10)div 100) + (round(sum(/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge[ram:ChargeIndicator/udt:Indicator=true() and ram:CategoryTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode='E']/xs:decimal(ram:ActualAmount))*10*10)div 100) - (round(sum(/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge[ram:ChargeIndicator/udt:Indicator=false() and ram:CategoryTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode='E']/xs:decimal(ram:ActualAmount))*10*10)div 100)) and (../ram:BasisAmount + 1 > (round(sum(/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:IncludedSupplyChainTradeLineItem/ram:SpecifiedLineTradeSettlement[ram:ApplicableTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode = 'E']/ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementLineMonetarySummation/xs:decimal(ram:LineTotalAmount))*10*10)div 100) + (round(sum(/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge[ram:ChargeIndicator/udt:Indicator=true() and ram:CategoryTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode='E']/xs:decimal(ram:ActualAmount))*10*10)div 100) - (round(sum(/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge[ram:ChargeIndicator/udt:Indicator=false() and ram:CategoryTradeTax/ram:CategoryCode='E']/xs:decimal(ram:ActualAmount))*10*10)div 100))

Related validation rules

  • BR-E-01: Not exactly one VAT breakdown for category E
  • BR-E-02: Seller VAT or tax registration identifier missing for invoice line with category E
  • BR-E-03: Seller VAT or tax registration identifier missing for document level allowance with category E
  • BR-E-04: Seller VAT or tax registration identifier missing for document level charge with category E
  • BR-E-05: VAT rate of invoice line with category E is not 0
  • BR-E-06: VAT rate of document level allowance with category E is not 0

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