errorbusinessEN 16931

BR-CO-26:The invoice is missing seller identification. At least one of: Seller...

Fix: The invoice is missing seller identification. At least one of: Seller Identifier (BT-29), Legal Registration ID (BT-30), or VAT Identifier (BT-31) must be present. Provide the required value in the free validator.

The invoice is missing seller identification. At least one of: Seller Identifier (BT-29), Legal Registration ID (BT-30), or VAT Identifier (BT-31) must be present.

Severity
Fatal
Rule set
EN 16931
Country
All EU
Fix type
INPUT REQUIRED

Engine Classification

Business data required · Explicit input workflow · No assumptions made

Required input: Seller Identifier (BT-29), Legal Registration ID (BT-30), VAT Identifier (BT-31)

What is BR-CO-26?

BR-CO-26 is a fatal validation rule defined in the EN 16931 specification.

When this rule fires, the invoice is rejected by Peppol access points and never reaches the buyer.

Why This Error Matters

Invoice rejected. Buyers need to identify the seller for payment routing and tax verification.

BR-CO-26 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-CO-26
  • ·Specification: EN 16931

How to Fix It

1.

Identify the missing data

The invoice is missing seller identification. At least one of: Seller Identifier (BT-29), Legal Registration ID (BT-30), or VAT Identifier (BT-31) must be present.

2.

Provide the required value

The invoice is missing seller identification. At least one of: Seller Identifier (BT-29), Legal Registration ID (BT-30), or VAT Identifier (BT-31) must be present.

3.

Re-validate your invoice

Upload the corrected invoice to confirm BR-CO-26 is resolved.

Before / After

Failing XML
<cac:PartyIdentification>
  <cbc:ID><!-- invalid or missing value --></cbc:ID>
</cac:PartyIdentification>
Corrected XML
<cac:PartyIdentification>
  <cbc:ID>correct-value</cbc:ID>
</cac:PartyIdentification>

Technical Reference

SpecEN 16931
StrategyRequires user input: At least one seller identifier (company registration number, VAT number, or business identifier). Cannot auto-generate legal identifiers.

Common Causes

  • ·Seller has no identifier for buyer matching
  • ·Missing BT-29 (Seller ID), BT-30 (Legal reg), and BT-31 (VAT)
  • ·Seller party has no identification elements
  • ·Company setup incomplete - no identifiers configured
  • ·Export template missing seller identifier mappings

Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-CO-26 automatically. See the fix response →

Frequently Asked Questions

The invoice is missing seller identification. At least one of: Seller Identifier (BT-29), Legal Registration ID (BT-30), or VAT Identifier (BT-31) must be present.

The invoice is missing seller identification. At least one of: Seller Identifier (BT-29), Legal Registration ID (BT-30), or VAT Identifier (BT-31) must be present. You can also use Invoice Navigator's compliance engine to correct this automatically in your pipeline.

Yes, BR-CO-26 is a critical error that will cause invoice rejection. It must be fixed before submission.

Many instances of BR-CO-26 can be automatically corrected using Invoice Navigator's compliance engine. The fix is applied in your pipeline with full audit evidence.

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Last updated: 14 April 2026

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