Are self-closing tags treated the same as empty tags?

Yes. and both fail PEPPOL-EN16931-R008. Some XML libraries emit self-closing tags by default — configure them to skip empty elements entirely, or strip afterwards.

Does whitespace-only content count as empty?

Yes. Schematron uses normalize-space() to evaluate the content — an element containing only spaces, tabs, or newlines fails R008. Trim before serializing or omit the element.

Which elements are the most common R008 offenders?

In practice: cbc:Note, cbc:AccountingCost, cbc:BuyerReference, cbc:ProjectReference, cac:OrderReference/cbc:ID, cac:PayeeParty, and cac:Delivery. All are optional in the Peppol BIS but ERPs commonly emit them empty.

Can I fix R008 with a simple XSLT strip?

Yes. A generic identity transform matching empty or whitespace-only elements removes every offender. Invoice Navigator applies this exact transformation and logs every stripped element in the Evidence Pack.

Does R008 apply to attributes too?

No. R008 only rejects empty elements. Empty attribute values are handled by other rules (typically BR-CL codes for code list validation).

Error codes · Peppol BIS 3.0

PEPPOL-EN16931-R008Fixable here

Document must not contain empty elements

This is the rejection, word for word: „[PEPPOL-EN16931-R008] PEPPOL-EN16931-R008 fires when your invoice XML contains empty elements — tags with no text content and no children. Peppol requires that if an element is present, it must have a value. This is one of the most frequent Peppol errors because many ERP systems emit optional fields as empty tags rather than omitting them entirely.“

The Peppol Schematron rule PEPPOL-EN16931-R008 asserts not(*[not(node())]) on every element in the document, effectively rejecting any element that has neither text content nor child elements. Self-closing tags like <cbc:Note/> and open/close pairs like <cbc:OrderReference></cbc:OrderReference> both count as empty. Whitespace-only content (spaces, tabs, newlines) also fails because Schematron treats normalize-space() as empty. The rule fires per empty element, so a single invoice can produce many R008 messages.

What to have readyDelivery country

What we doRemove every empty element from the invoice XML. Either populate the element with a real value or delete the tag entirely. Invoice Navigator auto-fixes R008 with 0.95 confidence by stripping all empty and whitespace-only elements while preserving structure.

Choose the rejected invoiceor drop it here

XRechnung XML or ZUGFeRD PDF. Checking is free · corrected file €1.90 · the first every 30 days is free · no sign-up.

If you enter it yourself in your invoicing software

Before

<Invoice xmlns="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:Invoice-2">
  <cbc:ID>INV-2026-0842</cbc:ID>
  <cbc:IssueDate>2026-08-12</cbc:IssueDate>
  <cbc:Note/>
  <cbc:BuyerReference></cbc:BuyerReference>
  <cac:OrderReference>
    <cbc:ID/>
  </cac:OrderReference>
  <cbc:AccountingCost>   </cbc:AccountingCost>
</Invoice>

After

<Invoice xmlns="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:Invoice-2">
  <cbc:ID>INV-2026-0842</cbc:ID>
  <cbc:IssueDate>2026-08-12</cbc:IssueDate>
  <cbc:BuyerReference>CC-2410-DE-04</cbc:BuyerReference>
  <cac:OrderReference>
    <cbc:ID>PO-2026-000442</cbc:ID>
  </cac:OrderReference>
  <!-- empty cbc:Note and cbc:AccountingCost removed -->
</Invoice>

What the finding looks likeExample

FindingValue missing · PEPPOL-EN16931-R008

Location/Invoice/cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode

From youDelivery country

ThenPassed

ProofSHA-256 and /verify link after the check