How do I fix BR-CO-26?

Give your VAT ID if you have one. If you are in the commercial register, enter the registration number (BT-30), such as HRB 12345. In Germany a small business without either can apply for a VAT ID free of charge at the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt).

All error codes · Error code · EN 16931 (CEN)

BR-CO-26 Seller not clearly identified

For the recipient to recognise you automatically, the invoice needs at least one seller identifier, a seller identifier (BT-29), a legal registration number (BT-30) or the VAT ID (BT-31).

The rule's official text

In order for the buyer to automatically identify a supplier, the Seller identifier (BT-29), the Seller legal registration identifier (BT-30) and/or the Seller VAT identifier (BT-31) shall be present.

An error: the validator rejects the invoice, and recipients may refuse it.

What usually causes it

The invoice contains only the tax number (BT-32), which doesn't count for this rule.
A small business with neither a VAT ID nor a commercial register entry.

How to fix it

Give your VAT ID if you have one.
If you are in the commercial register, enter the registration number (BT-30), such as HRB 12345.
In Germany a small business without either can apply for a VAT ID free of charge at the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt).

Where it sits in the XML

UBL: cac:PartyIdentification/cbc:ID, cac:PartyLegalEntity/cbc:CompanyID, cac:PartyTaxScheme/cbc:CompanyID
CII: ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:ID, ram:SpecifiedLegalOrganization/ram:ID, ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration/ram:ID

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docket writes every invoice as a ZUGFeRD PDF and an XRechnung at once, following exactly these rules. More on e-invoicing in docket.