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EORI · Importer of record
Do you need an EORI number to import into the EU?
No — not if someone else files the entry as importer of record. That is what a DDP service does, and it is the single biggest reason smaller importers choose it over arranging their own clearance.
- EORI required
- Only if you file
- Default setup
- We file
- VAT reclaim
- Not available
- Time to obtain
- Days to weeks
- Cost of EORI
- Free
The definition
One number, one register, twenty-seven countries.
An EORI number — Economic Operators Registration and Identification — is the identifier the EU issues to anyone who lodges customs declarations. It is registered once and recognised across all member states, so a business that imports into Rotterdam and Hamburg uses the same number in both places.
The important detail is who the requirement attaches to. It is not attached to the owner of the goods, and it is not attached to the buyer. It is attached to the declarant — the party whose name appears on the import entry. Change the declarant and you change who needs the number.
A DDP service is not a tax trick. It is a division of labour: we are the declarant, so the EORI, the entry and the VAT settlement are ours to handle. The goods are still imported, the duty is still paid, and the tax is still charged — just under our registration rather than yours.
The split
When you need one, and when you do not.
You need an EORI number if
- Your company files its own import entries
- You want the entry in your name so the import VAT can be reclaimed
- You are the importer of record for Amazon FBA stock — the inventory is yours, so the entry should be too
- You import regularly enough to have your own customs broker
You do not need one if
- The forwarder files as importer of record — our default DDP setup
- You are receiving samples or a first trial order and simply want the goods
- You buy on delivered terms and the tax is inside the price by contract
- You are sending B2C parcels under €150 through the IOSS scheme — a different mechanism entirely
The cost
What not having an EORI actually costs you.
Not a fee — the fee is zero. The cost is that the import VAT stops being recoverable.
Run the arithmetic on your own volume. Take €300,000 of goods into Germany in a year at 19%. That is €57,000 of import VAT. If your company is VAT-registered and files its own entries, that €57,000 is paid at import and then reclaimed — a cash-flow exercise, not a cost.
Under a forwarder-as-importer arrangement, that reclaim is not available to you. In practice, DDP prices usually carry the tax as a cost line, which is why a VAT-registered importer with real volume often finds a self-filed entry cheaper once the numbers are laid side by side.
Below a few hundred kilos a year, the administrative saving of a DDP setup usually outweighs the VAT point, and that is who this service suits best. Above it, ask us to quote both ways — we would rather quote the cheaper one than defend the default.
The decision
Three tests. Two of them true means register.
If you decide to register
How the EORI actually gets issued.
The application is free and made to the customs authority of the member state where you first intend to declare — not to Brussels, and not to a central EU register. In several member states an EORI is issued only once a local VAT registration exists, which is usually the slow and expensive part; in others you can hold an EORI as a non-established business without VAT registration, but then you cannot reclaim.
Because the rules differ per country, the practical order is: pick the member state where most of your goods enter, check its VAT registration requirement first, then apply for the EORI. Doing it in the other order tends to produce a number you cannot use.
If you are near the threshold, tell us your annual volume and destination mix and we will say which side of the line you are on. It is not in our interest to sell you a DDP setup that costs you 19% a year for the sake of convenience.
Questions
Four things people ask about EORI.
Can I import into the EU without an EORI number?
Yes, if another party files the import declaration as importer of record and settles the duty and VAT. That is the normal arrangement under a DDP service, and the goods still arrive as your property.
Is an EORI number the same as a VAT number?
No. The EORI number identifies you to customs for declarations; the VAT number identifies you for tax reporting. Most established traders hold both, but one does not substitute for the other.
How long does it take to get an EORI number?
Days to a few weeks depending on the member state, and longer if a local VAT registration has to come first. The application itself is free; the registration behind it is where the cost and the delay sit.
If I do not have an EORI number, do I avoid paying VAT?
No. The import VAT is still charged and still settled — it is simply settled under the forwarder’s VAT position instead of yours. Nothing about it is exempt, and any quote that implies otherwise should be treated as a warning sign.