HMRC has issued 88,700 VAT registered businesses who trade with the EU a UK EORI number, as part of the UK’s preparations for leaving the EU.
Those businesses, who are unfamiliar with international trade may not have understood the full implications of the UK leaving the EU and will not be able to move goods in and out of the UK without one.
HMRC have written to businesses to let them know the UK EORI number they’ve been assigned and the next steps they need to take.
For those businesses that are not VAT registered and do not have a UK EORI number, they must apply now at www.gov.uk/hmrc/get-eori in order to commercially trade with the EU.
You can check the next steps you need to take to ensure that your business is ready for Brexit using the published UK Government Trader Checklist.