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BR-CO-08: Invoice line charge reason code and Invoice line charge reason shall indicate the same…

EN 16931 core rule · Error · UBL / CII

StandardEN 16931-1 (European e-invoicing semantic model)SeverityError: the invoice is rejectedSyntaxUBL, CIIBusiness terms
  • BT-144 Invoice line charge reason
  • BT-145 Invoice line charge reason code
Applies toEvery EN 16931 invoice: XRechnung, ZUGFeRD 2.x / Factur-X (profiles EN 16931, EXTENDED, XRECHNUNG), Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, and national CIUS such as the Dutch NLCIUS or the Italian/Spanish profiles.

Official rule text

[BR-CO-08] Invoice line charge reason code (BT-145) and Invoice line charge reason (BT-144) shall indicate the same type of charge reason.

Why this error occurs

The value must come from a fixed code list and the value in your file is not on it. Common causes: a free-text value instead of a code ("Invoice" instead of 380), a code from an older list version, lower-case codes, or a code valid in another standard but not in this one.

How to fix it

Replace the value with a code from the list named in the rule text (UNTDID 1001 for document types, UNTDID 5305 for VAT categories, ISO 4217 for currencies, ISO 3166-1 for countries, UN/ECE Recommendation 20/21 for units, EAS for electronic addresses, ISO 6523 ICD for scheme identifiers). Codes are case-sensitive.

What the validator checks

Checked element (context):

UBL

//cac:InvoiceLine/cac:AllowanceCharge[cbc:ChargeIndicator = true()] | //cac:CreditNoteLine/cac:AllowanceCharge[cbc:ChargeIndicator = true()]

Test (XPath):

true()

CII

//ram:SpecifiedLineTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeAllowanceCharge/ram:ChargeIndicator[udt:Indicator = 'true']

Test (XPath):

true()

Check your invoice

Drop your XML or PDF on the validator and every failed rule is linked to its page here. Free, no account, the file is not stored.

Check your invoice →

Same check via API:

curl -F file=@invoice.xml https://einvoicechecker.com/v1/validate

Related rules

Frequently asked questions

What does BR-CO-08 mean?

BR-CO-08 is a en 16931 core rule: Invoice line charge reason code (BT-145) and Invoice line charge reason (BT-144) shall indicate the same type of charge reason.

Will my invoice be rejected because of BR-CO-08?

Yes. BR-CO-08 is flagged "fatal"; validators (KoSIT, Peppol access points, the German ZRE/OZG-RE portals) reject the invoice until it is fixed.

Which formats does BR-CO-08 apply to?

Every EN 16931 invoice: XRechnung, ZUGFeRD 2.x / Factur-X (profiles EN 16931, EXTENDED, XRECHNUNG), Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, and national CIUS such as the Dutch NLCIUS or the Italian/Spanish profiles. Syntax: UBL and CII.

Source: EN 16931-1:2017 schematron (CEN TC434, via Peppol BIS 3.0.20). Catalogue generated from the official schematron on 2026-10-14.