InvoiceVerify

BR-CO-09

VAT number lacks its country prefix

ErrorEN 16931BT-31BT-48BT-63

Also available in:NederlandsFrançais

What it means

VAT numbers for the seller, buyer or seller’s tax representative must start with the issuing country’s two-letter prefix. Greece may use EL.

Typical causes

  • Only the national part of a VAT number was entered
  • A company registration number was entered in the VAT field

How to fix it

  1. Check the affected party’s VAT number against its registration details.
  2. Enter the complete VAT number with the issuing country’s two-letter prefix; EL is allowed for Greece.
What the rule says (technical)

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'.

Write the VAT number with its two-letter country prefix and no spaces, e.g. DE123456789 or NL123456782B01.

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