Fix BR-S-6: Allowance VAT rate (BT-96) missing for category S

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What does BR-S-6 mean?

If a document level allowance carries category S (standard rated), a rate greater than zero must be set.

Common causes of BR-S-6

The allowance carries category "S", but ram:RateApplicablePercent stands at 0.00.
The element for the VAT rate is missing from the allowance CategoryTradeTax.
The allowance VAT rate differs from the rate of the related lines and was set to 0 by mistake.

How to fix BR-S-6

Find the faulty spot in the XML. Open the XML of the invoice and go to field BT-96 along this XPath://rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge/ram:CategoryTradeTax/ram:RateApplicablePercent
Apply the fix. A document level allowance (BG-20) has VAT category "S" (standard rated, BT-95), but the VAT rate (BT-96) is 0 or missing. Standard rating needs a rate greater than 0. Enter a positive rate in ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge/ram:CategoryTradeTax/ram:RateApplicablePercent, for example 19.00, matching the lines with the same category.
Validate again. Save the file and validate it again to check that BR-S-6 is no longer reported.

Concrete fix

A document level allowance (BG-20) has VAT category "S" (standard rated, BT-95), but the VAT rate (BT-96) is 0 or missing. Standard rating needs a rate greater than 0. Enter a positive rate in ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge/ram:CategoryTradeTax/ram:RateApplicablePercent, for example 19.00, matching the lines with the same category.

XPath

//rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice/rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge/ram:CategoryTradeTax/ram:RateApplicablePercent

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>10.00</ram:ActualAmount>
  <ram:CategoryTradeTax>
    <ram:CategoryCode>S</ram:CategoryCode>
    <ram:RateApplicablePercent>0.00</ram:RateApplicablePercent>
  </ram:CategoryTradeTax>
</ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge>

Correct

<ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge>
  <ram:ChargeIndicator><udt:Indicator>false</udt:Indicator></ram:ChargeIndicator>
  <ram:ActualAmount>10.00</ram:ActualAmount>
  <ram:CategoryTradeTax>
    <ram:CategoryCode>S</ram:CategoryCode>
    <ram:RateApplicablePercent>19.00</ram:RateApplicablePercent>
  </ram:CategoryTradeTax>
</ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge>

Frequent questions about BR-S-6

Why does the allowance have a VAT rate of its own?

A document level allowance reduces the taxable amount of a given VAT category. For the assignment to hold, it needs the same category and the same rate as the lines it affects.

Must the allowance rate match the lines exactly?

Yes. An allowance with category "S" and rate X feeds into the VAT breakdown for exactly that rate (see BR-S-8). A differing or missing rate causes follow-up errors.

Related error codes

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