As part of the UK Government’s preparations for Brexit, more than 88,000 of the UK’s VAT-registered companies are being allocated an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number in order to keep trading with customers and suppliers in the EU after the UK has left. 72,000 companies have already registered for EORI numbers.
With its unique EORI number, a business can be identified by Customs authorities when doing business with other traders.
Certain businesses will already have an EORI if they have been trading with companies outside the EU.
If your business doesn’t have an EORI number post-Brexit, it will be unable to continue to trade with EU Member States. Automatically allocated EORI numbers have been sent to businesses by post during the past several days.
After getting an EORI number, your business will have a choice between completing customs declarations itself or employing a customs agent to do this. The customs agent would require your business’ EORI number.
If you’d like to find out more about EORI numbers and VAT implications for your business, please get in touch with our VAT team using our enquiry form.