# BR-CO-14 Invoice total VAT amount must equal the sum of VAT category tax amounts

The Invoice total VAT amount (BT-110) must equal the arithmetic sum of every VAT category tax amount (BT-117) in the VAT breakdown.

## Problem Description

> **ERROR**: EN 16931 calculation and consistency rule (BR-CO)

> **Where BR-CO-14 is checked**
>
> A validator checks an e-invoice in stages. First the file must be well-formed XML that matches the UBL or CII schema (XSD). Then the EN 16931 business rules run: BR core rules, BR-CO calculations, BR-CL code lists, BR-DEC decimals and VAT-category rules such as BR-S. Next come the national or network rules that BT-24 selects: BR-DE for XRechnung, PEPPOL-EN16931 for Peppol BIS Billing. The report lists every failed rule: one error means reject, warnings alone still mean accept. BR-CO-14: EN 16931 calculation rule, reported in the stage “EN 16931 rules”.

## Context and Significance

The validator compares BT-110 with the sum of all VAT category tax amounts (BT-117) in the VAT breakdown. A difference points to a missing breakdown row, to VAT amounts that were rounded per line and then added up, or to a VAT amount in accounting currency (BT-111) placed in BT-110 by mistake. The error is fatal.

## Solution

Recompute BT-110 by summing every BT-117 (one per VAT category and rate combination) before exporting. In UBL, BT-110 is the cbc:TaxAmount of the cac:TaxTotal that contains the cac:TaxSubtotal elements; if a VAT accounting currency (BT-6) is used, BT-111 goes into a second cac:TaxTotal without cac:TaxSubtotal. In CII, BT-110 is ram:TaxTotalAmount in the invoice currency.

- [Validate XML](/en/xrechnung-validator?source=resource&rule=BR-CO-14)
- [Convert invoice](/en/pdf-to-xrechnung?source=resource&rule=BR-CO-14)

## Valid Examples

- Two BT-117 amounts 19.00 and 7.00 yield BT-110 = 26.00
- Single BT-117 = 38.00 yields BT-110 = 38.00

## Invalid Examples

- BT-110 = 26.00 but the breakdown sums to 25.99
- BT-110 = 19.00 while two BT-117 amounts of 19.00 and 7.00 exist

## Affected Fields

- [BT-110 Invoice total VAT amount](/resources/xrechnung/bt-110-invoice-total-vat-amount)
- [BT-117 VAT category tax amount](/resources/xrechnung/bt-117-vat-category-tax-amount)

## Related Rules

- [BR-CO-15](/resources/kosit-validator-errors/br-co-15-invoice-total-with-vat-must-match)
- [BR-CO-17](/resources/kosit-validator-errors/br-co-17-vat-category-tax-amount-must-match-base-times-rate)

## Validation Tools

- [Official KoSIT Validator](https://github.com/itplr-kosit/validator): Run the official KoSIT validator with the XRechnung configuration to check EN 16931 and XRechnung rules.
- [Convert PDF to XRechnung](/pdf-to-xrechnung): Find validation errors during conversion and review each correction.

## Related Resources

- [Official Specification](https://docs.peppol.eu/poacc/billing/3.0/rules/ubl-tc434/)
- [Test Suite](https://github.com/itplr-kosit/xrechnung-testsuite)
- [All validation errors](/resources/kosit-validator-errors): Overview of the EN 16931, XRechnung and Peppol validation rules explained here.