What does BR-CO-15 mean?
The invoice total amount with VAT (BT-112) is not the sum of the invoice total amount without VAT (BT-109) and the invoice total VAT amount (BT-110).
Classification: Business rule error. This group covers calculation and consistency rules: details in the invoice do not add up or do not fit together.
A violation of this rule means the file does not meet the technical standard at this point. The check does not judge whether the invoice is correct in substance. The file should be corrected by the invoice issuer.
Which invoice fields are concerned?
The rule text names these EN 16931 business terms (BT) and groups (BG):
- BT-112
- BT-109
- BT-110
Who has to correct the error?
As a rule the invoice issuer, i.e. your supplier or its invoicing software: only the issuer can generate the e-invoice again. Do not edit the file you received; keep it and ask for a corrected e-invoice. Our knowledge article explains how to handle a faulty XRechnung overall.
E-mail to the supplier
Copy the template, add the invoice number and date, and send it to your supplier's accounts department.
Subject: Request for a corrected e-invoice (rule BR-CO-15) Dear Sir or Madam, When we checked your e-invoice [invoice number] dated [date], the KoSIT validator reported a violation of rule BR-CO-15 of EN 16931 / XRechnung: The invoice total amount with VAT (BT-112) is not the sum of the invoice total amount without VAT (BT-109) and the invoice total VAT amount (BT-110). Please send an e-invoice in which the total with VAT (BT-112) equals the net total (BT-109) plus VAT (BT-110). Thank you for your support. Kind regards
Source and date
This explanation is based on the official rule text. The message the validator reports for your file always takes precedence. As of October 2026.