BR-CO-09

Validation message

The Seller VAT identifier (BT-31), the Seller tax representative VAT identifier (BT-63) and the Buyer VAT identifier (BT-48) shall have a prefix in accordance with ISO code ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 by which the country of issue may be identified. Nevertheless, Greece may use the prefix ‘EL’.

Explanation

The VAT identifiers of seller (BT-31), tax representative (BT-63), and buyer (BT-48) must start with an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country prefix — e.g., 'DE123456789' rather than just '123456789'. Greece uses 'EL' instead of 'GR' as an exception.

How to fix

Prefix VAT identifiers with the correct country code.

This field is required by §14 Abs. 4 Nr. 2 UStG. A missing or incorrect value may affect input VAT deduction (Vorsteuerabzug) for the recipient.

Applies to