BR-48:Document allowance tax category required
Document-level allowances/charges must specify the VAT category.
Engine Classification
Financial or legal field · Modification blocked by policy
Reason: Tax category assignment affects tax liability calculation. Must be determined based on the specific goods/services and applicable tax rules.
What is BR-48?
BR-48 is a fatal validation rule defined in the EN 16931 specification. It validates the TaxCategory element under Invoice > AllowanceCharge in the UBL invoice XML.
When this rule fires, the invoice is non-compliant and will be rejected by Peppol access points and national validation services. The sending system receives a rejection response and the invoice does not reach the buyer.
Target path: XPath: /Invoice/cac:AllowanceCharge/cac:TaxCategory
Why This Error Matters
Invoice rejected. VAT rate is required for tax calculation verification and reporting.
BR-48 is a hard failure. Invoices that trigger this rule are rejected at the access point and never reach the recipient. In Peppol networks, this means your sending system receives an MLR (Message Level Response) with a rejection status. The invoice must be corrected and re-sent, adding delay to your payment cycle.
Validator Behavior
- ·Causes invoice rejection
- ·Error returned: BR-48
- ·Specification: EN 16931
How to Fix It
Add TaxCategory
Same structure as line item categories
Match category
Should match applicable line item categories
Include rate
Percent for standard rate
Before / After
<cac:TaxSubtotal> <!-- cbc:TaxAmount is missing --> </cac:TaxSubtotal>
<cac:TaxSubtotal> <cbc:TaxAmount>valid-value</cbc:TaxAmount> </cac:TaxSubtotal>
Technical Reference
XPath: /Invoice/cac:AllowanceCharge/cac:TaxCategoryCode Example
<cac:AllowanceCharge>
<cbc:ChargeIndicator>false</cbc:ChargeIndicator>
<cbc:Amount currencyID="EUR">50.00</cbc:Amount>
<cac:TaxCategory>
<cbc:ID>S</cbc:ID>
<cbc:Percent>21</cbc:Percent>
<cac:TaxScheme>
<cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID>
</cac:TaxScheme>
</cac:TaxCategory>
</cac:AllowanceCharge>Common Causes
- ·VAT breakdown missing rate (Percent)
- ·TaxCategory/Percent not mapped in export
- ·Tax rate stored separately from tax category
- ·Zero-rate category missing explicit 0 percent
- ·Rate field empty for standard VAT category
Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-48 automatically. See the fix response →
Commonly Seen In
Frequently Asked Questions
Document-level allowances/charges must specify the VAT category.
Add TaxCategory to document allowances/charges. You can also use Invoice Navigator's automatic Fixer tool to correct this instantly.
Yes, BR-48 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.
Many instances of BR-48 can be automatically corrected using Invoice Navigator's Fixer tool. Upload your invoice and the tool will identify and fix common issues, including document allowance tax category required.
BR-48 is commonly seen in exports from All invoicing software. These software packages sometimes generate invoices that need adjustment to meet full compliance standards.
See Also
Related Errors
Last updated: 27 February 2026
Handle BR-48 Automatically in Your Pipeline
The compliance engine auto-remediates this error with controlled safety policies and evidence pack generation.