VAT identifier is missing its country prefix

BR-CO-9 comes from the official e-invoicing rule sets. This page explains what the rule checks, why invoices trip over it and the concrete change that makes the document pass.

Applies to: EN 16931 · Peppol BIS 3.0 · XRechnung · NLCIUS

Related fields: BT-31, BT-48, BT-63

Why this error appears

EN 16931 requires every VAT identifier on the invoice (seller BT-31, buyer BT-48, tax representative BT-63) to start with the two-letter ISO country code. Accounting systems often store the bare national number, so the prefix silently disappears when the invoice is generated.

How to fix it

Prefix the VAT identifier with the ISO country code, for example NL123456789B01.

Example

Rejected

<cac:PartyTaxScheme>
  <cbc:CompanyID>123456789B01</cbc:CompanyID>
  <cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme>
</cac:PartyTaxScheme>

Accepted

<cac:PartyTaxScheme>
  <cbc:CompanyID>NL123456789B01</cbc:CompanyID>
  <cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme>
</cac:PartyTaxScheme>

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