BR-KSA-56: Credit or debit note without the original invoice number

Official text

For credit notes ((BT-3) has the value of 381) and debit notes ((BT-3) has the value of 383), the billing reference ID (BT-25) is mandatory.

Warning · Source: ZATCA E-Invoicing SDK 238-R3.3.8 · Electronic Invoice XML Implementation Standard v1.2, 19 May 2023, §13.3.1, p. 57 · Checked: 26 October 2026

What it means

A credit note (381) or debit note (383) must point to the number of the original invoice it adjusts, in BillingReference.

When it happens

• A refund without a receipt, and the system sends the note with no reference.
• The field is present but empty.

How to fix it

1. Look up the original invoice by its number or in the sales history before the refund.
2. Write its number in BillingReference/InvoiceDocumentReference/ID.
3. If the refund covers several invoices, add one reference for each.

Example

<cac:BillingReference>
  <cac:InvoiceDocumentReference>
    <cbc:ID></cbc:ID>
  </cac:InvoiceDocumentReference>
</cac:BillingReference>

<cac:BillingReference>
  <cac:InvoiceDocumentReference>
    <cbc:ID>654321</cbc:ID>
  </cac:InvoiceDocumentReference>
</cac:BillingReference>

We ran the wrong example through ZATCA's SDK 238-R3.3.8 on 26 October 2026 and it raised BR-KSA-56, along with BR-55, BR-KSA-F-06-C22. The example is an excerpt of ZATCA's sample Simplified/Credit/Credit Note of a Simplified Tax Invoice.xml with one change; the sample without it does not raise the code.

Related codes

• BR-KSA-17 Credit or debit note reason is missing
• BR-KSA-F-04 Negative amount or quantity
• BR-KSA-52 The line VAT amount (KSA-11) is mandatory for tax invoice and associated credit notes and debit notes (KSA-2, position 1 and 2 = 01).

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