EORI need check: business or private
Four questions decide whether you need an EORI number: business or private, established in the EU or not, how many declarations a year, and licensed exports.
2 min to read / Rules to be read again by 2027-01-22
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.
The rule for businesses
The European Commission says economic operators established in the EU customs territory need an EORI number. Operators not established in the EU need one when they lodge customs declarations, entry or exit summary declarations or temporary storage declarations, or when they act as carriers (European Commission).
The rule for private persons
There is no single EU answer; customs authorities apply it nationally. German customs say private individuals do not need an EORI number if they lodge declarations only occasionally, fewer than ten times a year, and that courier services acting for private customers have no EORI obligation either. For exports that need a licence, a private person may still have to give one (Zoll). Finnish customs use the personal ID for private import declarations instead (Tulli).
How the check decides
- Business established in the EU: yes.
- Business outside the EU: yes once you lodge declarations or act as a carrier; otherwise not yet.
- Private person with a licensed export: possibly.
- Private person with ten or more declarations a year: check with customs, based on the German threshold.
- Otherwise, for private persons: normally no, though a seller or carrier may still ask for a number.
The slider shows your yearly declarations against the German threshold of ten. Other countries may draw the line differently.
Other rules the check does not ask about
- Other persons. Beyond operators, the Commission says "other persons" need a number where national law or other EU acts require one, or where they carry out activities that require one (European Commission). Military bodies and NGOs are examples in the guidance.
- No number, still trading. An indirect representative with its own EORI can handle customs for you; HMRC says so for the UK (HMRC).
If the answer is yes, the application country check tells you which customs authority to contact. Your role compared across the EU and UK in one table: who needs an EORI, by role.
Spotted an outdated EORI rule? Report an outdated rule