BR-CL-18: Tax category codes must come from the UNCL5305 code list

Explained by Matheel from ZATCA's rule text and the condition SDK 3.4.8 executes · Updated October 24, 2026

Error: the invoice is rejectedAll invoicesFields: —

Every tax category code (cbc:ID under cac:TaxCategory in cac:TaxSubtotal and cac:AllowanceCharge, and under cac:Item/cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory on lines) must be a single code from AE, L, M, E, S, Z, G, O, K, B.

How to fix it

Use one of AE, L, M, E, S, Z, G, O, K, B with no spaces, e.g. <cbc:ID>S</cbc:ID>. Note that BR-KSA-18 narrows this further to S, Z, E or O.

ZATCA's official text

[BR-CL-18]-Invoice tax categories MUST be coded using UNCL5305 code list.
Source: ZATCA SDK 3.4.8 · EN 16931 (CEN) rules

Fails when (the condition ZATCA's SDK runs)

not(( ( not(contains(normalize-space(.),' ')) and contains( ' AE L M E S Z G O K B ',concat(' ',normalize-space(.),' ') ) ) ))

Related rules

• BR-CL-05 · Tax currency code must be an ISO 4217 alpha-3 code
• BR-CL-14 · Country codes must be ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes
• BR-CL-16 · Payment means code must be from the UNCL4461 list
• BR-CL-KSA-14 · The QR code value must be 1 to 1000 characters long
• BR-CO-04 · Every invoice line needs a VAT category code
• BR-CO-10 · Total line amount must equal the sum of all line net amounts