BR-CO-15: Total with VAT (BT-112) is not net plus VAT

StandardEN 16931-1 (European e-invoicing semantic model)SeverityError: the invoice is rejectedSyntaxUBL, CIIBusiness terms

BT-109 Invoice total amount without VAT
BT-110 Invoice total VAT amount
BT-112 Invoice total amount with VAT

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-15] Invoice total amount with VAT (BT-112) = Invoice total amount without VAT (BT-109) + Invoice total VAT amount (BT-110).

Why this error occurs

The invoice total amount with VAT (BT-112) must equal the total without VAT (BT-109) plus the total VAT amount (BT-110). The rule additionally requires exactly one VAT total in the document currency: in UBL one cac:TaxTotal/cbc:TaxAmount whose currencyID equals cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode, in CII one ram:TaxTotalAmount with currencyID equal to ram:InvoiceCurrencyCode. It fails on rounding differences, on a missing currencyID on the tax amount, or when two TaxTotal elements both use the document currency.

How to fix it

Formula: BT-112 = BT-109 + BT-110, rounded to 2 decimals. In UBL write cac:LegalMonetaryTotal/cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount = cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount + cac:TaxTotal/cbc:TaxAmount[@currencyID = document currency]; in CII ram:GrandTotalAmount = ram:TaxBasisTotalAmount + ram:TaxTotalAmount[@currencyID = invoice currency]. Every tax amount needs the currencyID attribute. Keep exactly one tax total in document currency; a second one is only allowed in the VAT accounting currency (BT-111).

Example (valid)

<cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>
  <cbc:LineExtensionAmount currencyID="EUR">200.00</cbc:LineExtensionAmount>
  <cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount currencyID="EUR">200.00</cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount>
  <cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount currencyID="EUR">238.00</cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount>
  <cbc:PayableAmount currencyID="EUR">238.00</cbc:PayableAmount>
</cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>

What the validator checks

Checked element (context):

UBL

/ubl:Invoice | /cn:CreditNote

Test (XPath):

every $Currency in cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode satisfies (count(cac:TaxTotal/xs:decimal(cbc:TaxAmount[@currencyID=$Currency])) eq 1) and (cac:LegalMonetaryTotal/xs:decimal(cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount) = round( (cac:LegalMonetaryTotal/xs:decimal(cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount) + cac:TaxTotal/xs:decimal(cbc:TaxAmount[@currencyID=$Currency])) * 10 * 10) div 100)

CII

/rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice

Test (XPath):

every $Currency                                  in rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:InvoiceCurrencyCode                                 satisfies (                                     count ( rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementHeaderMonetarySummation/ram:TaxTotalAmount[@currencyID=$Currency] ) eq 1 and                                     (//ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementHeaderMonetarySummation/xs:decimal(ram:GrandTotalAmount) = round(                                      (//ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementHeaderMonetarySummation/xs:decimal(ram:TaxBasisTotalAmount) +                                      (//ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementHeaderMonetarySummation/xs:decimal(ram:TaxTotalAmount[@currencyID=$Currency]))) * 10 * 10) div 100)) or                                 (//ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementHeaderMonetarySummation/xs:decimal(ram:GrandTotalAmount) = (//ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementHeaderMonetarySummation/xs:decimal(ram:TaxBasisTotalAmount)))

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

BR-CO-13 Total without VAT (BT-109) does not add up
BR-CO-14 Total VAT amount (BT-110) does not match the VAT breakdown
BR-CO-16 Amount due for payment (BT-115) does not add up
BR-13 An Invoice shall have the Invoice total amount without VAT
BR-14 An Invoice shall have the Invoice total amount with VAT
BR-DEC-12 The allowed maximum number of decimals for the Invoice total amount without VAT is 2
BR-DEC-13 The allowed maximum number of decimals for the Invoice total VAT amount is 2
BR-DEC-14 The allowed maximum number of decimals for the Invoice total amount with VAT is 2

Frequently asked questions

What does BR-CO-15 mean?

BR-CO-15 is a en 16931 core rule: Invoice total amount with VAT (BT-112) = Invoice total amount without VAT (BT-109) + Invoice total VAT amount (BT-110).

Will my invoice be rejected because of BR-CO-15?

Yes. BR-CO-15 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-15 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.