How long an EORI number lasts

An EORI number has no expiry date. How invalidation works, when records are deleted, why changes must be reported and what happens to the data afterwards.

2 min to read / Rules to be read again by 2027-01-19

What the EORI guide does: 8 tools

EORI number checker type a GB, XI or EU number and see at once whether its prefix, length and characters fit the published rules.
Check a list of EORI numbers paste up to 500 numbers from a spreadsheet and get a reason, a suggested fix and the right official service for every row.
Compare an EORI with a UK VAT number see whether the first nine digits of a GB or XI number match the holder's VAT number, as HMRC says they should.
Which EORI number do I need? say where you are based and what you will move, and learn whether you need a GB, an XI or an EU number.
EORI number formats by country type how many characters your number has and see which of the 29 prefixes allow that length.
Do I need an EORI number? answer four questions about who you are and how often you make customs declarations to see whether you must register.
Where to apply for an EORI number pick your situation and see which customs authority issues the number, with a link to the official list of authorities.
How long an EORI number lasts enter the date a number stopped being valid and see the earliest date its record can be deleted, ten years on.

At a loading dock or a desk? Install the checker and the shape test keeps working after the signal drops.

No expiry date

The Commission says EORI numbers have no expiry date (European Commission). A person can hold only one valid number at a time.

Invalidation

A number can be invalidated in two ways, according to the Commission guidance (guidance):

At the holder's request.
When the authority knows the operator has ceased the activities that justified registration, for example in bankruptcy.

The authority records the date of invalidation and notifies the holder. The Commission page also says the number can be invalidated when the business activities cease.

What happens to the data

After invalidation, the recorded data is kept for 10 years. The guidance says the number can be deleted from the database only after 10 years from the expiry date, so that earlier declarations can still be corrected.

Changes

The operator must inform the issuing authority immediately of changes, and the Member State must update the data. The guidance gives an example: an operator registered in Spain that later obtains an Austrian VAT number must ask the Spanish authority to update its record. Moving house inside the EU does not mean a new number: the address is updated.

Start date

The start date of a record cannot be earlier than the launch of the system on 1 July 2009 or the date of establishment, and it cannot be changed once the number is valid.

A name and address are shown on the public checker only if the holder gave written consent, and consent can be withdrawn at any time. Refusing consent does not affect the application or customs formalities (guidance). For a GB number, HMRC says to use the change of circumstance form to update consent (HMRC).

Version note. Details here come from the guidance text dated 30 August 2023, the current version; the Commission's page lists it with the date 29 May 2024.

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