BR-DE-14:VAT rate always required in XRechnung
VAT rate must always be specified in XRechnung.
Engine Classification
Financial or legal field · Modification blocked by policy
Reason: German XRechnung requires VAT rate on all tax breakdowns. The rate must reflect the actual tax rate applied per German tax law.
What is BR-DE-14?
BR-DE-14 is a fatal validation rule defined in the XRechnung (Germany) specification (DEU national rules). It validates the Percent element under TaxCategory 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: //cac:TaxCategory/cbc:Percent
Why This Error Matters
Invoice rejected. VAT rates are mandatory for German tax compliance.
BR-DE-14 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
- ·Rejected by XRechnung endpoints
- ·Error returned: BR-DE-14
- ·Specification: XRechnung (Germany)
How to Fix It
Check all categories
Each TaxCategory needs Percent
Add rate
Use 0 for exempt categories
Before / After
<Invoice> <!-- Issue: German XRechnung requires explicit VAT rates for all tax cat --> </Invoice>
<Invoice> <!-- Issue resolved per XRechnung (Germany) --> </Invoice>
Technical Reference
XPath: //cac:TaxCategory/cbc:PercentCommon Causes
- ·VAT category rate missing in XRechnung
- ·BT-119 VAT category rate not transmitted
- ·German invoice requires explicit VAT rate percentage
- ·TaxCategory/Percent element missing
- ·Tax breakdown without rate specification
Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-DE-14 automatically. See the fix response →
Frequently Asked Questions
VAT rate must always be specified in XRechnung.
Add Percent element to each TaxCategory. You can also use Invoice Navigator's automatic Fixer tool to correct this instantly.
Yes, BR-DE-14 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-DE-14 can be automatically corrected using Invoice Navigator's Fixer tool. Upload your invoice and the tool will identify and fix common issues, including vat rate always required in xrechnung.
Related Errors
Last updated: 27 February 2026
Handle BR-DE-14 Automatically in Your Pipeline
The compliance engine auto-remediates this error with controlled safety policies and evidence pack generation.