BR-IC-05:Intra-community supply invoice line must have a VAT rate of zero
Fix: Find every line with category K. If the rate is non-zero, decide intent: if the supply is genuinely intra-community, set cbc:Percent to 0 (the buyer self-accounts for VAT); if the buyer is actually domestic, change the category from K to the correct code (usually S) and keep the rate. Also confirm valid seller (BT-31) and buyer (BT-48) VAT IDs and a VATEX-EU-IC exemption reason, then recompute the K subtotal (TaxAmount 0) and totals.
BR-IC-05 fires when an invoice line (BG-25) whose invoiced item VAT category code (BT-151) is 'Intra-community supply' (code K) carries an invoiced item VAT rate (BT-152) other than 0. Intra-community B2B supplies are reverse-charged to the customer, so the seller must show a 0 rate. It is the category-K member of the EN 16931 line-rate family (BR-S-05, BR-Z-05, BR-E-05, BR-AE-05, BR-G-05, BR-O-05).
Engine Classification
Requires user confirmation before application
What is BR-IC-05?
BR-IC-05 is a fatal validation rule defined in the EN 16931 specification. It validates the Percent element under Item > ClassifiedTaxCategory in the UBL invoice XML.
When this rule fires, the invoice is rejected by Peppol access points and never reaches the buyer.
Target path: //cac:InvoiceLine/cac:Item/cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory[cbc:ID='K']/cbc:Percent
Why This Error Matters
Invoice will be rejected. Intra-community supply (category IC) requires both seller and buyer VAT numbers for reverse charge mechanism. Missing elements prevent cross-border VAT compliance verification.
BR-IC-05 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-IC-05
- ·Specification: EN 16931
How to Fix It
Locate the field
Check cbc:Percent at //cac:InvoiceLine/cac:Item/cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory[cbc:ID='K']/cbc:Percent. The current value does not meet the rule requirements for BR-IC-05.
Set the correct value
Invoice Navigator automatically fixes this issue by correcting the `cac:InvoiceLine` element in your Invoice (BR-IC-05).
Re-validate your invoice
Upload the corrected invoice to confirm BR-IC-05 is resolved.
Before / After
<cac:InvoiceLine><cbc:ID>1</cbc:ID><cbc:InvoicedQuantity unitCode="C62">10</cbc:InvoicedQuantity><cbc:LineExtensionAmount currencyID="EUR">2000.00</cbc:LineExtensionAmount><cac:Item><cbc:Name>Industrial sensors</cbc:Name><cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory><cbc:ID>K</cbc:ID><cbc:Percent>21</cbc:Percent><cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme></cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory></cac:Item></cac:InvoiceLine>
<cac:InvoiceLine><cbc:ID>1</cbc:ID><cbc:InvoicedQuantity unitCode="C62">10</cbc:InvoicedQuantity><cbc:LineExtensionAmount currencyID="EUR">2000.00</cbc:LineExtensionAmount><cac:Item><cbc:Name>Industrial sensors</cbc:Name><cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory><cbc:ID>K</cbc:ID><cbc:Percent>0</cbc:Percent><cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme></cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory></cac:Item></cac:InvoiceLine>
Technical Reference
//cac:InvoiceLine/cac:Item/cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory[cbc:ID='K']/cbc:PercentCode Example
The line is intra-community (category K) but kept the domestic 21% rate; because the customer reverse-charges VAT, the rate must be 0, so the after sets cbc:Percent to 0. If the buyer were domestic the correct fix is the opposite — change K to S and keep 21 — which is why Invoice Navigator asks you to confirm intent before applying.Common Causes
- ·A category-K (intra-community supply) line carries a non-zero VAT rate: the rate was not zeroed after switching category, the category is wrong (domestic S sale tagged K), a default non-zero Percent, document-level reverse charge not applied to the line, or a copied template line.
Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-IC-05 automatically. See the fix response →
Frequently Asked Questions
Category K covers B2B supplies of goods to a VAT-registered customer in another EU member state. Under reverse charge the buyer accounts for the VAT, so the seller invoices at 0 and states an exemption reason (VATEX-EU-IC). BR-IC-05 enforces a 0 line rate.
A line is tagged with category K but still carries a positive VAT rate. Either the rate was not zeroed when the reverse charge applied, or the line is actually a domestic sale mis-categorised as K.
We flag it for confirmation rather than fixing blind (confidence 0.50). Zeroing the rate is correct only if the supply really is intra-community; if the line was mis-categorised, the rate is right and the category is wrong. We present both options and apply the one you confirm.
Intra-community invoices also need a valid seller VAT identifier (BT-31), a valid buyer VAT identifier (BT-48) in the destination member state, and a VATEX-EU-IC exemption reason on the K breakdown. BR-IC-05 commonly appears with those missing-field rules.
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Last updated: 2 June 2026
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