What it means
The seller's tax representative (BG-11) is the person or organisation the seller has appointed to account for VAT on its behalf. This rule checks that cac:TaxRepresentativeParty has no cbc:IndustryClassificationCode, a code for the line of business of the party. The standard only has the tax representative's name (BT-62), VAT number (BT-63) and postal address (BG-12). The check applies even if the industry classification element is empty.
Why it matters
EN 16931 does not use an industry classification code for the seller's tax representative.
How to fix it
Leave the industry classification code out of the tax representative's details in your exported file. If you edit the XML, delete cbc:IndustryClassificationCode from cac:TaxRepresentativeParty. Keep the representative's name, VAT number and postal address, then recheck the corrected file.
Once the file is corrected, check it again for free: Validate an invoice against EN 16931
Or fix the invoice in a form and download the corrected file, for 1 credit: Fix a rejected e-invoice
The rule as published
A UBL invoice should not include the TaxRepresentativeParty IndustryClassificationCode Where this rule applies
| Rule set | Version |
|---|---|
| EN 16931 (UBL) | 1.3.17 |
| EN 16931 (UBL credit note) | 1.3.17 |
| XRechnung 3.0 (UBL) | 3.0.2 |
| XRechnung 3.0 (UBL credit note) | 3.0.2 |
| Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (invoice) | 2026.5 |
| Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (credit note) | 2026.5 |
| SI-UBL 2.0 / NLCIUS (invoice) | 2.0.3.13 |
| SI-UBL 2.0 / NLCIUS (credit note) | 2.0.3.13 |
| France CTC (UBL invoice) | 1.4.0-04 |
| France CTC (UBL credit note) | 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 |
Check your file
Drop your e-invoice to see whether UBL-CR-301 still fails, and which other rules do.
Related rules
- UBL-CR-302 Do not add a separate identifier for the tax representative
- UBL-CR-303 Leave the language out of the tax representative's details
- UBL-CR-304 Leave the address ID out of the tax representative's address
- UBL-CR-305 Leave the address type out of the tax representative's address
- UBL-CR-306 Leave the address format out of the tax representative's address
- UBL-CR-307 Leave the separate PO box field out of the tax representative's address