Reference

BR-DE-16 Seller tax identifier must be provided for taxable VAT categories

Under § 14 Abs. 4 Nr. 2 of the German VAT Act (UStG) and XRechnung rule BR-DE-16, whenever an invoice contains taxable line items or tax breakdown categories (specifically categories S, Z, E, AE, K, G, L, or M), the seller must declare either a valid VAT identification number (USt-IdNr., BT-31), a local tax number (Steuernummer, BT-32), or the VAT identifier of their tax representative (BT-63). German tax law requires this identification to ensure tax enforceability and enable the recipient to claim input VAT deduction (Vorsteuerabzug).

Problem Description

ERROR

German XRechnung rule (KoSIT, BR-DE) · XRechnung 3.0

Context and Significance

Under German tax compliance, an invoice without seller VAT ID or tax number is defective and invalidates input VAT deductions. Rule BR-DE-16 enforces this requirement across all taxable invoice profiles.

Solution

In your ERP company settings, configure your VAT registration number (e.g. DE123456789) or local tax number (e.g. 27/123/45678). In UBL 2.1 syntax, for a VAT ID, populate <cac:PartyTaxScheme><cbc:CompanyID>DE123456789</cbc:CompanyID><cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme></cac:PartyTaxScheme> under <cac:AccountingSupplierParty><cac:Party>. For a local tax number (Steuernummer), set <cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>FC</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme>. In UN/CEFACT CII syntax, populate <ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration><ram:ID schemeID="VA">DE123456789</ram:ID></ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration> (or schemeID="FC" for Steuernummer) under <ram:SellerTradeParty>.

Quick actions

Validate XML Convert invoice

Valid Examples

Seller declares VAT identifier BT-31 = "DE123456789" with TaxScheme "VAT"
Seller declares local tax number BT-32 = "27/123/45678" with TaxScheme "FC"

Invalid Examples

Taxable invoice using category S where seller party contains no PartyTaxScheme or SpecifiedTaxRegistration element
Seller party declares only company name and address without any VAT identifier or tax registration number

Code Examples

Valid XML

<cac:PartyTaxScheme>
  <cbc:CompanyID>DE123456789</cbc:CompanyID>
  <cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme>
</cac:PartyTaxScheme>

Invalid XML

<cac:PartyLegalEntity>
  <cbc:RegistrationName>Musterfirma GmbH</cbc:RegistrationName>
</cac:PartyLegalEntity>

Affected Fields

BT-31 Seller VAT identifier

BT-32 Seller tax registration identifier

BT-63 Tax representative VAT identifier

Validation Tools

Official KoSIT Validator

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

Convert PDF to XRechnung

Find validation errors during conversion and review each correction.