XML Schema Validation Failed Error

One of the transmittal errors that may occur when sending a submission to the IRS AIR ISS-A2A Channel is XML Schema Validation Failed. This error usually occurs when the XML that is sent to the IRS is not well formed and can be corrected by parsing the XML against the IRS schema. There are scenarios however, where the XML may be well formed and an XML Schema Validation Failed error is still produced.

We’ve discovered when sending a submission with Foreign Entities there are elements that must follow a precise order (This is not clearly expressed in the documentation and it took quite a bit of back and forth with the IRS to resolve). The IRS AIR Submission Composition and Reference Guide (version 4.4) is also somewhat ambiguous on this topic stating conflicting information around the required use for TransmitterForeignEntityInd.

If your organization has foreign entity and you get the above error,  ensure your development team structures the Foreign entity section of your submission in the following order:

Hope this is helpful!