EORI Number and IOSS Explained for UK Sellers

Start selling abroad and two acronyms show up quickly: EORI and IOSS. They're different things with different jobs, but they get tangled together because both relate to customs and both matter the moment a parcel crosses a border. This is the plain-English version of what each one does and whether your business actually needs it.

What an EORI number is

EORI stands for Economic Operators Registration and Identification, and it's a unique number that identifies your business to customs authorities. You need one to import or export goods commercially, which in practice means you need one before you can send parcels to the EU or anywhere else as a business. It's free to apply for and you get it from HMRC.

When you need an EORI number

If you're a business sending goods abroad, you need an EORI number, full stop. It goes on your customs declarations and lets customs trace who's sending what. The good news is you apply once and it's done, and it's a prerequisite for the other customs schemes like IOSS. If you've been sending the odd parcel abroad without one, it's worth sorting before volume grows.

What IOSS is

IOSS, the Import One-Stop Shop, is an EU scheme that lets you collect VAT at the point of sale and pay it to the EU in one place, instead of the customer being charged VAT and a handling fee when the parcel arrives. It applies to orders to the EU with a value up to €150, and it's the difference between a smooth delivery and a customer who refuses a parcel because of an unexpected charge.

Why IOSS matters for customer experience

Without IOSS, an EU customer buying a £30 item from you gets hit with VAT plus a courier handling fee before the parcel is released. That fee is the part that stings, because it can be a large fraction of a low-value order. With IOSS, you collect the VAT at checkout and the parcel sails through, which is a genuinely better experience and fewer refused deliveries. Our EU customs charge guide explains what that handling fee actually is.

Do you need IOSS?

IOSS is worth registering for if you sell meaningfully to EU consumers with orders under €150. If you only send the occasional parcel, or your EU orders are all over €150, it's less critical. The registration is done through an intermediary in the EU, and you'll need your EORI number first, so the two really do go in sequence.

How IOSS shows up on the label

When you ship an IOSS order, the scheme's details and your IOSS number go into the customs declaration, and the electronic data travels with the parcel. That data is what tells EU customs the VAT is already handled, so getting it onto the CN22 or CN23 correctly is the whole game. Our customs forms guide covers the mechanics of filling it in.

EORI and IOSS with Royal Mail and couriers

In Click & Drop and most shipping platforms, you enter your EORI and IOSS numbers once and they're applied to every eligible international label automatically. That one-time setup is worth doing carefully, because a mistyped number on a batch of parcels is exactly the kind of error that causes a whole shipment to be held at customs.

Getting set up, step by step

The order is: apply for your EORI number from HMRC, register for IOSS through an EU intermediary if you need it, enter both into your shipping platform, and then send a test parcel to confirm the data flows through. It's a small amount of admin that removes the single biggest friction point in selling to the EU, and it's a one-off investment.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between EORI and IOSS? EORI is your business's customs ID for importing and exporting. IOSS is an EU VAT scheme for low-value orders that lets you collect VAT at checkout.

Do I need an EORI number to send parcels to the EU? Yes, if you're sending goods commercially. It's free, applied for from HMRC, and required on your customs declarations.

Is IOSS mandatory? No, but it removes the customer-facing VAT and handling fee on EU orders under €150, so it's strongly worth it if you sell to EU consumers regularly.