BT-117VAT category tax amount
Official rule text
[BR-DEC-20] The allowed maximum number of decimals for the VAT category tax amount (BT-117) is 2.
Why this error occurs
Monetary amounts in EN 16931 may have at most two decimals. The value in your file has more, usually because the software writes unrounded calculation results (e.g. 12.3456) or because a percentage was written into an amount field.
How to fix it
Round the amount to two decimals before serialising it. Quantities and prices may keep more decimals; only the amount elements named in the rule are limited. Do the rounding per component and then recheck the total rules (BR-CO-10 to BR-CO-16).
What the validator checks
Checked element (context):
UBL
cac:TaxTotal/cac:TaxSubtotalTest (XPath):
string-length(substring-after(cbc:TaxAmount,'.'))<=2CII
//ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement/ram:ApplicableTradeTaxTest (XPath):
string-length(substring-after(ram:CalculatedAmount,'.'))<=2Check 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.
Same check via API:
curl -F file=@invoice.xml https://einvoicechecker.com/v1/validateRelated rules
BR-46Each VAT breakdown shall have a VAT category tax amountBR-AE-09The VAT category tax amount in a VAT breakdown where the VAT category code is "Reverse…BR-AF-09The VAT category tax amount in a VAT breakdown where VAT category code is "IGIC" shall…BR-AG-09The VAT category tax amount in a VAT breakdown where VAT category code is "IPSI" shall…BR-CO-14Total VAT amount (BT-110) does not match the VAT breakdownBR-CO-17VAT category tax amount (BT-117) does not match base times rateBR-E-09The VAT category tax amount In a VAT breakdown where the VAT category code equals…BR-G-09The VAT category tax amount in a VAT breakdown where the VAT category code is "Export…
Frequently asked questions
What does BR-DEC-20 mean?
BR-DEC-20 is a en 16931 core rule: The allowed maximum number of decimals for the VAT category tax amount (BT-117) is 2.
Will my invoice be rejected because of BR-DEC-20?
Yes. BR-DEC-20 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-DEC-20 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.