BR-CO-26: what it means and how to fix it

The seller must be identifiable: a seller identifier, a legal registration identifier or a VAT identifier must be present.

RuleBR-CO-26
StandardEN 16931-1, the European standard for electronic invoices
SeverityError (the invoice is not conformant)
ConcernsBT-29, BT-30, BT-31: Seller identifier, Seller legal registration identifier, Seller VAT identifier

How to fix it

Add the seller's VAT number or company registration number.

Where the field is in the XML

TermCII (XRechnung-CII, ZUGFeRD, Factur-X)UBL (XRechnung-UBL, Peppol)
BT-29
Seller identifier
ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:IDcac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:PartyIdentification/cbc:ID
BT-30
Seller legal registration identifier
ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:SpecifiedLegalOrganization/ram:IDcac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:PartyLegalEntity/cbc:CompanyID
BT-31
Seller VAT identifier
ram:SellerTradeParty/ram:SpecifiedTaxRegistration/ram:ID[@schemeID='VA']cac:AccountingSupplierParty/cac:Party/cac:PartyTaxScheme/cbc:CompanyID (with cac:TaxScheme/cbc:ID = VAT)

Check your own file for this rule

Up to 5 MB. Read in memory for this one request and not stored.

From your code

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/xml" \
  --data-binary @invoice.xml "https://agent-data-tools.revmesh2074.workers.dev/einvoice/validate"

The answer lists every broken rule with its number, the field, a message with the figures from your file and the fix. E-invoice API: validate, convert to JSON, and create XRechnung or ZUGFeRD XML from JSON.

Questions

What does BR-CO-26 mean?

The seller must be identifiable: a seller identifier, a legal registration identifier or a VAT identifier must be present. It is a rule of EN 16931-1, the European standard for electronic invoices.

How do I fix BR-CO-26?

Add the seller's VAT number or company registration number.

Is BR-CO-26 an error or a warning?

An error: a validator reports the invoice as not conformant, and a recipient that validates incoming e-invoices can reject it.

Related rules

Rule numbers are those of EN 16931-1; the explanation is ours. Not tax or legal advice.