BR-KSA-18: VAT category is not S, Z, E or O

Official text

VAT category code must contain one of the values (S, Z, E, O).

Error · Source: ZATCA E-Invoicing SDK 238-R3.3.8 · Electronic Invoice XML Implementation Standard v1.2, 19 May 2023, §13.3.1, p. 52 · Checked: 26 October 2026

What it means

Each line's VAT category must be one of four letters: S standard rate, Z zero rate, E exempt, O outside the scope of VAT.

When it happens

• The system writes SR, VAT or 15 instead of the letter.
• The product was added without a tax category.

How to fix it

1. Give every product one of the four categories in the tax settings.
2. Write the letter alone in cbc:ID inside ClassifiedTaxCategory and TaxCategory.
3. Ordinary restaurant and shop products are S.

Example

<cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory>
  <cbc:ID>SR</cbc:ID>
  <cbc:Percent>15.00</cbc:Percent>
  <cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme>
</cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory>

<cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory>
  <cbc:ID>S</cbc:ID>
  <cbc:Percent>15.00</cbc:Percent>
  <cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme>
</cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory>

We ran the wrong example through ZATCA's SDK 238-R3.3.8 on 26 October 2026 and it raised BR-KSA-18, along with BR-CL-18, BR-S-08. The example is an excerpt of ZATCA's sample Simplified/Invoice/Simplified_Invoice.xml with one change; the sample without it does not raise the code.

Related codes

• BR-KSA-84 Standard-rate VAT is not 15 or 5
• BR-KSA-CL-04 Zero-rate or exemption reason code does not fit the category
• BR-KSA-16 Payment means code is not recognised

Terms on this page

Last updated: 26 October 2026 · What we don't do · Methodology · Correct us · Changelog

First published 2026-10-26 · Archived copy