Fix BR-S-2: Seller tax identifier (BT-31) missing for category S

BR-S-2 in your own invoice? Upload the file and find every error in seconds.

What does BR-S-2 mean?

If the invoice contains an invoice line with category S, the seller must be identified for tax, that is, state a VAT identifier or a tax registration identifier.

Common causes of BR-S-2

An invoice line carries category 'S', but the seller has neither a VAT identifier (BT-31) nor a tax registration identifier (BT-32).
The VAT identifier was written without schemeID='VA' and therefore went unrecognised.
The tax registration identifier was given without schemeID='FC' and does not count as BT-32.

How to fix BR-S-2

Find the faulty spot in the XML. Open the XML of the invoice and go to field BT-31 along this XPath://ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration
Apply the fix. If the invoice contains a line with VAT category 'S' (standard rated), the seller must be identified for tax. Add the VAT identifier with schemeID='VA' (BT-31) or the tax registration identifier with schemeID='FC' (BT-32) in 'ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration'. Alternatively, the VAT identifier of a seller tax representative (BT-63) is enough.
Validate again. Save the file and validate it again to check that BR-S-2 is no longer reported.

Concrete fix

If the invoice contains a line with VAT category 'S' (standard rated), the seller must be identified for tax. Add the VAT identifier with schemeID='VA' (BT-31) or the tax registration identifier with schemeID='FC' (BT-32) in 'ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration'. Alternatively, the VAT identifier of a seller tax representative (BT-63) is enough.

XPath//ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration

Before / after: the XML example

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

Wrong

<ram:SellerTradeParty>
  <ram:Name>Musterfirma GmbH</ram:Name>
</ram:SellerTradeParty>

Correct

<ram:SellerTradeParty>
  <ram:Name>Musterfirma GmbH</ram:Name>
  <ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration>
    <ram:ID schemeID="VA">DE123456789</ram:ID>
  </ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration>
</ram:SellerTradeParty>

Frequent questions about BR-S-2

Is the tax registration identifier enough, or do I need the VAT identifier?

Either one will do: VAT identifier with schemeID='VA' (BT-31) or tax registration identifier with schemeID='FC' (BT-32). The VAT identifier of a seller tax representative (BT-63) also satisfies the rule.

Why does category 'S' require a tax identifier?

With standard rating the seller charges VAT. To make that traceable and attributable to the seller, the standard requires a valid seller tax identifier.

Related error codes

Check BR-S-2 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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