What it means
The invoice can name the seller's tax representative (BG-11), the person or company the seller has appointed to account for VAT on its behalf, for example when the seller is based in another country. EN 16931 describes this party with a name (BT-62), a VAT number (BT-63) and an address (BG-12). The seller itself can carry other identifiers, such as a company registration number (BT-30). The rule fails when cac:TaxRepresentativeParty/cac:PartyIdentification is in the file at all, even if empty. It checks both invoices and credit notes.
Why it matters
EN 16931 does not use the separate party identification element for the tax representative. The representative's VAT number (BT-63) is carried in a different field.
How to fix it
Remove cac:PartyIdentification from cac:TaxRepresentativeParty in your exported file. Keep the representative's name, VAT number (BT-63) and postal address. The VAT number is carried in cac:PartyTaxScheme/cbc:CompanyID under cac:TaxRepresentativeParty. 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 PartyIdentification 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-302 still fails, and which other rules do.
Related rules
- 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
- UBL-CR-308 Leave the separate floor field out of the tax representative's address