Is DE-R-016 a critical error?

Yes, DE-R-016 is a critical error that will cause invoice rejection. It must be fixed before submission.

Can DE-R-016 be automatically fixed?

Many instances of DE-R-016 can be automatically corrected using Invoice Navigator's compliance engine. The fix is applied in your pipeline with full audit evidence.

errorDEUEN 16931

`DE-R-016`:VAT identifier is missing. German invoices using VAT codes S, Z, E, AE, K,...

VAT identifier is missing. German invoices using VAT codes S, Z, E, AE, K, G, L, or M must include either Seller VAT ID (BT-31), Tax registration ID (BT-32), or Tax Representative.

Severity

Fatal

Rule set

EN 16931

Country

DEU

Fix type

AUTO-FIX

Confidence

80%

Engine Classification

Ensure seller city name is present for XRechnung compliance

Confidence: 80% · Applied automatically in pipeline

What is DE-R-016?

DE-R-016 is a fatal validation rule defined in the EN 16931 specification (DEU national rules). It validates the CityName element under Party > PostalAddress 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: //cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:PostalAddress/cbc:CityName

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Why This Error Matters

Invoice will be rejected by German XRechnung validators. Germany has additional mandatory fields beyond EN16931 baseline, including seller contact details, complete addresses, and buyer reference (Leitweg-ID).

DE-R-016 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.

Invoice Navigator can automatically correct this error in your pipeline. The fix is applied with full audit evidence, so your compliance trail remains intact.

Validator Behavior

·Causes invoice rejection
·Rejected by XRechnung endpoints
·Error returned: DE-R-016
·Specification: EN 16931

Before / After

Failing XML

<Invoice>
  <!-- Issue: If VAT codes S, Z, E, AE, K, G, L, or M is used, an invoice  -->
</Invoice>

Corrected XML

<Invoice>
  <!-- Issue resolved per EN 16931 -->
</Invoice>

Technical Reference

XPath//cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:PostalAddress/cbc:CityName

SpecEN 16931

Operationset_default

StrategyEnsure seller city name is present for XRechnung compliance

Common Causes

·VAT category used without seller tax identifier
·S/Z/E/AE/K/G/L/M category needs seller VAT
·BT-31, BT-32, or BG-11 required for VAT categories
·Seller tax registration missing for taxable invoice
·German validation enforces seller VAT for most categories

Seeing this in production? The API handles DE-R-016 automatically. See the fix response →

Handle DE-R-016 Automatically in Your Pipeline

The compliance engine auto-remediates this error with controlled safety policies and evidence pack generation.

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DE-R-016:VAT identifier is missing. German invoices using VAT codes S, Z, E, AE, K,...