BR-36:Tax total amount required
Fix: Add the required `cac:AllowanceCharge` element to your Invoice. Ensure it contains a valid value per EN 16931 (BR-36).
Each Document level charge (BG-21) shall have a Document level charge amount (BT-99).. Check the `cac:AllowanceCharge` element in your invoice XML.
Engine Classification
Financial or legal field · Modification blocked by policy
Reason: Invoice totals require manual verification. Automatic changes could cause calculation cascades affecting tax amounts, line totals, and compliance. Please verify all amounts in your source system.
What is BR-36?
BR-36 is a fatal validation rule defined in the EN 16931 specification. It validates the TaxAmount element under Invoice > TaxTotal in the UBL invoice XML.
When this rule fires, the invoice is rejected by Peppol access points and never reaches the buyer.
Target path: XPath: /Invoice/cac:TaxTotal/cbc:TaxAmount
Why This Error Matters
Invoice rejected. Cannot calculate invoice totals without charge amounts.
BR-36 is a hard failure — the invoice must be corrected and re-sent before it can reach the recipient.
Validator Behavior
- ·Causes invoice rejection
- ·Error returned: BR-36
- ·Specification: EN 16931
How to Fix It
Add TaxTotal
Required even if zero VAT
Calculate amount
Sum of all TaxSubtotal TaxAmounts
Include currency
currencyID must match DocumentCurrencyCode
Before / After
<Invoice> <!-- cac:AllowanceCharge is missing --> </Invoice>
<Invoice> <cac:AllowanceCharge>valid-value</cac:AllowanceCharge> </Invoice>
Technical Reference
XPath: /Invoice/cac:TaxTotal/cbc:TaxAmountCode Example
<cac:TaxTotal>
<cbc:TaxAmount currencyID="EUR">210.00</cbc:TaxAmount>
<!-- TaxSubtotals -->
</cac:TaxTotal>Common Causes
- ·Document charge added without amount value
- ·AllowanceCharge/Amount field not mapped for charges
- ·Percentage surcharge without base amount
- ·Charge template missing amount field mapping
- ·Zero-value charge exported with null instead of 0
Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-36 automatically. See the fix response →
Commonly Seen In
Frequently Asked Questions
The invoice must have a TaxTotal with TaxAmount.
Add the required `cac:AllowanceCharge` element to your Invoice. Ensure it contains a valid value per EN 16931 (BR-36). This error involves a protected field — Invoice Navigator flags it in your pipeline so your team can correct it at the source.
Yes, BR-36 is a critical error that will cause invoice rejection. It must be fixed before submission to ensure your invoice is accepted by the recipient's system.
BR-36 involves a financial or legal field that cannot be auto-modified by policy. Invoice Navigator detects and flags this error immediately, but the correction must be made manually in your ERP or invoicing software.
BR-36 is commonly seen in exports from All invoicing software. These software packages sometimes generate invoices that need adjustment to meet full compliance standards.
Related Errors
Related Content
Last updated: 3 March 2026
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