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Fatal: fails the selected checks

BR-AE-01: Reverse-charge items need a matching VAT breakdown entry

In short

BR-AE-01 means a line, discount or charge uses VAT category AE (reverse charge), but the VAT breakdown has no entry for that category. Fix it by adding exactly one AE row to the VAT breakdown, with its taxable amount and VAT.

On this page

What it means

When an invoice line (BT-151), a discount on the whole invoice (BT-95) or a charge on the whole invoice (BT-102) uses VAT category AE (reverse charge), the VAT breakdown (BG-23) must contain exactly one entry with category code AE (BT-118).

Why it matters

The VAT breakdown is the summary of VAT per category and rate that the buyer books and the tax authority checks. If a category used on the lines is missing from it, the VAT on the invoice cannot be reconciled and the invoice is rejected.

How to fix it

Look at the VAT summary at the bottom of the invoice. Add the missing AE row with the total of the amounts in that category, the rate and the VAT amount. There may only be one such row. Invoicing software normally builds this table from the lines, so a gap usually means a line was edited by hand or given the wrong category.

The rule as published

An Invoice that contains an Invoice line (BG-25), a Document level allowance (BG-20) or a Document level charge (BG-21) where the VAT category code (BT-151, BT-95 or BT-102) is "Reverse charge" shall contain in the VAT Breakdown (BG-23) exactly one VAT category code (BT-118) equal with "VAT reverse charge".

Business terms: BG-20, BG-21, BG-23, BG-25, BT-95, BT-102, BT-118, BT-151

Where this rule applies

Rule set Version
EN 16931 (UBL) 1.3.17
EN 16931 (UBL credit note) 1.3.17
EN 16931 (CII) 1.3.17
XRechnung 3.0 (UBL) 3.0.2
XRechnung 3.0 (UBL credit note) 3.0.2
XRechnung 3.0 (CII) 3.0.2
Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (invoice) 2026.5
Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (credit note) 2026.5
Factur-X 1.09 BASIC 1.0.9-2
Factur-X 1.09 EN 16931 1.0.9-2
ZUGFeRD 2.5 BASIC 2.5.2
ZUGFeRD 2.5 EN 16931 2.5.2
SI-UBL 2.0 / NLCIUS (invoice) 2.0.3.13
SI-UBL 2.0 / NLCIUS (credit note) 2.0.3.13
NLCIUS (CII) 1.0.3.13
France CTC (UBL invoice) 1.4.0-04
France CTC (UBL credit note) 1.4.0-04
France CTC (CII) 1.4.0-04
CIUS-RO UBL Invoice 1.0.9 1.0.9
CIUS-RO UBL Credit Note 1.0.9 1.0.9
Rule text from phive-rules 4.6.4.

Check your file

Drop your e-invoice to see whether BR-AE-01 still fails, and which other rules do.