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Warning

UBL-CR-499: Leave the Percent element out of the VAT breakdown row

In short

Warning: worth checking.

UBL-CR-499 means a row of the VAT breakdown has a Percent directly inside it, which EN 16931 does not use there. Remove that cbc:Percent and keep any applicable VAT rate in the VAT category of the row.

On this page

What it means

This rule checks that no VAT breakdown row (cac:TaxSubtotal under a document-level cac:TaxTotal, BG-23) has a cbc:Percent as a direct child. The VAT rate of a row (BT-119), where applicable, belongs inside its VAT category, in cac:TaxSubtotal/cac:TaxCategory/cbc:Percent. Only the Percent directly under cac:TaxSubtotal is flagged. The check applies to invoices and credit notes.

Why it matters

EN 16931 places the VAT rate in the VAT category, not directly in the VAT breakdown row.

How to fix it

Delete cbc:Percent directly under each cac:TaxSubtotal inside a document-level cac:TaxTotal. Do not delete cbc:Percent inside cac:TaxCategory to resolve this warning. Where a VAT rate applies, check that the category contains the correct rate. If your invoicing software writes a Percent directly under the subtotal, ask its supplier to correct the export. 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 TaxTotal TaxSubtotal Percent

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
Rule text from phive-rules 4.6.4.

Check your file

Drop your e-invoice to see whether UBL-CR-499 still fails, and which other rules do.

Updated 6 November 2026