Fix BR-42: Invoice line allowance reason (BT-139/BT-140) missing

BR-42 in your own invoice? Upload the file and find every error in seconds.

What does BR-42 mean?

Every allowance at line level must state a reason, either as free text or as a reason code. That keeps the deduction traceable.

Common causes of BR-42

The invoice line allowance contains neither ram:Reason (BT-139) nor ram:ReasonCode (BT-140).
The ram:Reason field is present but empty.
The discount reason appears only on the visual document and was never carried into the XML.

How to fix BR-42

Find the faulty spot in the XML. Open the XML of the invoice and go to field BT-139 along this XPath://ram:IncludedSupplyChainTradeLineItem/ram:SpecifiedLineTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge/ram:Reason
Apply the fix. Every allowance at line level (BG-27) needs a reason: either the free text ram:Reason (BT-139) or the reason code ram:ReasonCode (BT-140) from UNTDID 5189. Add at least one of the two elements to the line's ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge with ChargeIndicator=false.
Validate again. Save the file and validate it again to check that BR-42 is no longer reported.

Concrete fix

Every allowance at line level (BG-27) needs a reason: either the free text ram:Reason (BT-139) or the reason code ram:ReasonCode (BT-140) from UNTDID 5189. Add at least one of the two elements to the line's ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge with ChargeIndicator=false.

XPath//ram:IncludedSupplyChainTradeLineItem/ram:SpecifiedLineTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge/ram:Reason

Before / after: the XML example

This is the spot in question before and after the fix (Cross Industry Invoice, ZUGFeRD/Factur-X).

Wrong

<ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge>
  <ram:ChargeIndicator><udt:Indicator>false</udt:Indicator></ram:ChargeIndicator>
  <ram:ActualAmount>2.50</ram:ActualAmount>
</ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge>

Correct

<ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge>
  <ram:ChargeIndicator><udt:Indicator>false</udt:Indicator></ram:ChargeIndicator>
  <ram:ActualAmount>2.50</ram:ActualAmount>
  <ram:Reason>Mengenrabatt</ram:Reason>
</ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge>

Frequent questions about BR-42

Free text or code for the discount reason?

One is enough. ram:Reason (BT-139) as plain text or ram:ReasonCode (BT-140) from the UNTDID 5189 list, for example '95' for discount. Both together are allowed.

Why does the validator report BR-42 although the discount is shown on the invoice?

The validator reads only the embedded XML. If the reason is missing there in ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge, the rule fires, whatever the PDF layout shows.

Related error codes

Check BR-42 automatically

Instead of digging through the XML by hand you can validate your ZUGFeRD or XRechnung file online – upload the PDF or the XML and you get every error with rule ID, affected field, fix and XPath, as a readable report or as JSON through the API.

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