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BR-57 Deliver-to country code must be present when delivery address is used

Under EN 16931 rule BR-57, whenever an invoice specifies a distinct delivery address (BG-15 / DELIVER TO ADDRESS), the deliver-to country code (BT-80) must be explicitly provided using a valid two-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (such as DE, FR, NL, AT, or IT). Tax compliance and customs algorithms require the delivery country code to verify cross-border VAT treatment, intra-community supply status, and export tax exemptions.

Problem Description

ERROR

EN 16931 core business rule (CEN)

Context and Significance

An incomplete delivery address without country code fails Schematron rule BR-57 and prevents automated tax determination on cross-border invoices.

Solution

In your sales order or shipping configuration, verify that the delivery address includes the two-letter ISO country code. In UBL 2.1 syntax, populate <cac:Country><cbc:IdentificationCode>DE</cbc:IdentificationCode></cac:Country> within <cac:Delivery><cac:DeliveryLocation><cac:Address>. In UN/CEFACT CII syntax, populate <ram:CountryID>DE</ram:CountryID> within <ram:PostalTradeAddress> under <ram:ShipToTradeParty>. If delivery is made to the buyer’s standard billing address, omit BG-15 completely.

Quick actions

Validate XMLConvert invoice

Valid Examples

  • Delivery address BG-15 with BT-80 = "DE" (Delivery within Germany)
  • Delivery address BG-15 with BT-80 = "FR" (Cross-border delivery to France)

Invalid Examples

  • Delivery address (cac:Address / ram:PostalTradeAddress) includes street and city but omits Country element
  • CII ram:ShipToTradeParty/ram:PostalTradeAddress with an empty ram:CountryID; in UBL an empty <cbc:IdentificationCode/> does not trigger BR-57 but fails the code list rule BR-CL-14

Code Examples

Valid XML
<cac:Delivery>
  <cac:DeliveryLocation>
    <cac:Address>
      <cbc:CityName>Köln</cbc:CityName>
      <cbc:PostalZone>50667</cbc:PostalZone>
      <cac:Country><cbc:IdentificationCode>DE</cbc:IdentificationCode></cac:Country>
    </cac:Address>
  </cac:DeliveryLocation>
</cac:Delivery>
Invalid XML
<cac:Delivery>
  <cac:DeliveryLocation>
    <cac:Address>
      <cbc:CityName>Köln</cbc:CityName>
      <cbc:PostalZone>50667</cbc:PostalZone>
    </cac:Address>
  </cac:DeliveryLocation>
</cac:Delivery>

Affected Fields

BT-80 Deliver to country code
BG-15 Deliver to address

Validation Tools

Official KoSIT Validator

Run the official KoSIT validator with the XRechnung configuration to check EN 16931 and XRechnung rules.

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