LEITWEG-ID
The routing identifier of German public administrations for B2G e-invoicing — cornerstone of XRechnung.
Definition
The Leitweg-ID (literally "routing identifier") is the official identifier by which every German public administration (federation, Land, municipality) declares its e-invoice receiving address. Its formal structure is fixed by KoSIT (Koordinierungsstelle für IT-Standards) and adopted in the XRechnung standard:
- Grobadressierung: 2 digits for the Land (Bundesland), 0-12 digits for the municipality or administration; separator
-. - Feinadressierung: up to 30 alphanumeric characters, optional, to target an internal service or position; separator
-. - Prüfziffer: 2 mod-97 check digits computed over the whole, separator
-.
Generic shape: [Grobadressierung]-[Feinadressierung]-[Prüfziffer].
Total length between 4 and 46 characters, dots and letters allowed.
In an XRechnung invoice (a CIUS of EN 16931), the Leitweg-ID is carried
by: BT-10 — Buyer reference in UBL Invoice
(cbc:BuyerReference), or in UN/CEFACT CII
(ram:BuyerReference). This element lets a central portal
(e.g. ZRE — Zentrale Rechnungseingangsplattform of the Bund, or OZG-RE
for the Länder) route the invoice to the correct internal administration.
Origin
The Leitweg-ID was defined in 2017 by the German IT-Planungsrat and formalised by KoSIT in the context of transposing EU Directive 2014/55/EU. It became mandatory on 27 November 2020 for any invoice addressed to a German federal administration. The Länder rolled out mandatory use progressively from 2022. Without a valid Leitweg-ID, an e-invoice is rejected by the ZRE/OZG-RE portals.
Example in context
Example Leitweg-ID of a Land tax administration:
Reading: 991 Grobadressierung reserved for Bundesverwaltung,
12345 internal administration identifier, 89
Prüfziffer mod-97. This ID is set in the BT-10 of any invoice addressed
to this administration.
Related terms
- EN 16931 — the norm of which XRechnung is a CIUS.
- CIUS — the mechanism under which Leitweg-ID applies.
- PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 — also carries Leitweg-ID when routed to a German administration.