The EORI number (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) is the unique customs identifier required to import or export goods within the European Union. Any online seller who brings in products from China, the United Kingdom or the United States needs one from the very first parcel cleared through customs.
With a Bulgarian company, the EORI is obtained from your EIK number, pairs with your VAT number and remains valid throughout the EU — a single number to clear customs at Piraeus, Rotterdam or Hamburg. For a 100% remote formation, with no capital deposit or prior bank account, the DPK/EDPK is often the simplest choice — see EOOD, OOD or DPK.
What is the EORI?
The EORI (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) is a unique identification number assigned by customs to each economic operator that carries out customs formalities within the European Union.
In practical terms, it is your company's "customs ID card": it appears on every import or export declaration and allows EU authorities to track the flow of goods and attach duties and taxes to the right operator.
The format is standardised: it begins with the country code of the state that issued it (for example BG for Bulgaria), followed by the company's identifier. For a Bulgarian EOOD, the EORI is built from the EIK number (the Commercial Register identifier, equivalent to a company registration number). A given operator needs only one EORI, valid in all member states.
Who needs an EORI?
The EORI is mandatory as soon as a company crosses an EU customs border with goods. You need one in four scenarios:
Products arrive from a non-EU country — China, the post-Brexit United Kingdom, the United States, Turkey. The EORI is required from the first container cleared through customs.
You ship goods to a third country, outside the single market. The export declaration also carries your EORI.
A freight forwarder or customs broker clears the goods on your behalf: they need your company's EORI to draw up each declaration.
You warehouse products in Europe (warehouse, FBA) after having brought them in from abroad: the underlying import runs through your EORI.
Conversely, a simple exchange of goods within the single market (from one EU country to another) does not trigger any customs formality: it is an intra-Community supply governed by VAT, not by customs. The EORI only comes into play when crossing the Union's external border.
An online seller who sells only digital products (software, services, courses) does not need an EORI. It concerns exclusively physical goods that pass through customs.
EORI, VAT and customs: how do they fit together?
EORI and VAT are often confused, yet they answer two distinct but complementary logics. The EORI is used to identify the operator at customs; import VAT is a tax due on the value of the goods at the moment they enter the EU.
| Element | Role | When does it come into play? |
|---|---|---|
| EORI | Identify the company to customs | On every import/export declaration |
| VAT number | Collect VAT and deduct import VAT (paid then recovered) | On the imported value and on sales |
| Customs duties | Tax certain goods according to the HS code | On entry into the EU |
| OSS / IOSS | Declare the VAT on distance sales (thresholds: €10,000 intra-EU / IOSS for the VAT on consignments ≤ €150) | On sales to EU individuals |
A point that many providers wrongly present as an "FBA cash advantage": Bulgaria does not have a general reverse charge for import VAT.
In practice, for consumer goods imported in e-commerce, import VAT is paid in cash at customs, then recovered (deducted) on the next periodic VAT return.
This is the normal regime: your EORI and your Bulgarian VAT number are used to clear customs and to carry that VAT as a deduction; they do not exempt you from advancing it.
There is admittedly a mechanism for deferred payment of import VAT (чл. 167а ЗДДС, in force since 1 July 2019, not 2024), but it is a restricted scheme, not an authorisation you obtain for e-commerce.
It targets four cumulative criteria:
- goods listed in annex №3 of the law (metallic raw materials: ores, metals);
- a value of at least 50,000 BGN per item (≈ €25,565);
- VAT registration for at least 6 months;
- no tax debt with the NRA.
It therefore does NOT apply to consumer goods, to e-commerce or to a standard FBA flow. For an importer of retail products, the right cash-flow reflex lies elsewhere: recovering the input VAT quickly on the return, rather than relying on a deferral that does not concern it. Customs Agency (customs.bg) · чл. 167а ЗДДС (lex.bg).
The exemption from customs duties on small consignments (≤ €150) is abolished on 1 July 2026, with a temporary flat duty of €3 per item until 1 July 2028. Note: this change concerns customs duties, not VAT — import VAT remains unchanged and the IOSS continues to collect the VAT on consignments ≤ €150. European Commission — customs reform.
How do you obtain an EORI through a Bulgarian company?
An EORI is not obtained "as an individual": it is attached to a legal entity. The first step is therefore to have a registered company. With a Bulgarian company formed remotely (DPK/EDPK, or EOOD), the chain is as follows:
- Incorporation of the EOOD and obtaining of the EIK number at the Bulgarian Commercial Register (see the detail of the remote formation steps).
- VAT registration with the Bulgarian tax authority (NRA).
- EORI application with the Bulgarian Customs Agency, based on the company's EIK. The procedure is paperless on the ep.customs.bg portal and signed with the QES key (qualified electronic signature). The EIK must already exist: the Bulgarian EORI is built on the
BG+ EIK format. - Activation of the number: registration is free and activation usually takes ≈ 3 working days (up to 5 in the event of an additional check). The number can then be used for your import declarations throughout the EU.
Basis: Наредба Н-9/2018 (EORI registration in Bulgaria) — Customs Agency (customs.bg).
Because it derives from the EIK and pairs with VAT, the EORI fits naturally into the incorporation journey. As part of the Eurotrade pack, Fenchell runs this procedure alongside the VAT registration, so that your company is import-ready from the very first supply order.
And since the Bulgarian EORI is recognised everywhere in the Union, you remain free to choose your most advantageous European port of entry.
An often-underestimated advantage: by going through an EOOD, you become an operator established in the EU. A non-EU importer generally cannot clear customs directly: it must rely on a customs representative established in the Union (indirect representation), with the shared liability that this entails.
Your Bulgarian company removes this obstacle: it is the company, as a European operator, that appears as the importer on the declaration.
An EORI rests on a genuine company. A physical address in Plovdiv, a local agent, bookkeeping kept on the ground: this economic substance is what secures your banking and customs relationships, far beyond a mere administrative number.
How do you import from Asia in e-commerce?
The most common scenario among Eurotrade clients is that of the online seller who sources their products in China and resells them on European marketplaces. The typical circuit, step by step:
- your Asian supplier ships a container to an EU port (Piraeus, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg);
- your freight forwarder clears the goods using your EOOD's EORI;
- import VAT is handled via your Bulgarian VAT number — paid at clearance then recovered (deducted) on the next VAT return (the normal regime for consumer goods; the чл. 167а deferral only targets metallic raw materials, not e-commerce);
- the products move to a warehouse (or an Amazon distribution centre), ready for sale;
- sales to EU individuals are then declared via the OSS/IOSS one-stop shop.
With a Bulgarian company, this whole chain — EIK, VAT, EORI, OSS/IOSS — is built around a single structure with the overall tax burden among the lowest in the EU:
- 10% corporate income tax;
- then a withholding of between 0 and 5% on dividends (0% to an EU/EEA parent company, with no threshold or holding period — чл. 194, ал. 3, т. 3 ЗКПО; 5% paid to an individual, the rate maintained in 2026);
- that is, about 10 to 14.5% once profits are distributed, depending on the dividend rate applied.[1]
You import, store and sell in Europe from a single base, without multiplying entities. It is precisely this import-export foundation that the Eurotrade pack puts in place for nearly 1,000 companies already supported.
Obtaining the EORI is only one line of the equation. What makes your EOOD genuinely workable remotely plays out elsewhere: a generic incorporation hands you articles of association and a number; it does not anticipate remote management. The Eurotrade pack, on the other hand, ticks every box:
| What it takes to import & operate remotely | Generic incorporation | Eurotrade pack |
|---|---|---|
| Registered company + EIK number | ||
| EORI issued from the EIK (BG + EIK format) | ||
| Bulgarian VAT registration paired with the EORI | ||
| Local agent who handles customs formalities on the ground | ||
| QES key (qualified electronic signature) + FID | ||
| Bulgarian mobile line + live SMS OTP/2FA (dedicated interface) | ||
| Office & registered address in Plovdiv (mail collection + scanning) | ||
| AML point of contact + bank/fintech account applications, remotely | ||
| Bookkeeping kept on the ground (VAT, OSS/IOSS, EORI) |
Obtaining the EORI is only one line of the equation: what makes your EOOD truly workable remotely is the infrastructure around it — and that operability is not "bolted on" afterwards, it is built in from the incorporation file itself. A generic incorporation, wherever it is carried out, hands you articles of association and a number; it does not anticipate remote management.
1 — A file designed for remote management
At Fenchell, the file itself is designed for this: more than 20 bilingual Bulgarian/English documents — more than 30 for multi-shareholder companies — items prepared by the firm's legal team for remote management, drawing on thousands of real client files, including:
- the articles of association;
- the 8 notarised powers of attorney that make it possible to carry out every step on your behalf;
- the official registration certificate and its sworn translation;
- the FID (personal tax identifier);
- the QES key (qualified electronic signature) and many more.
2 — An infrastructure that runs the business from anywhere
Around this foundation, the Eurotrade pack brings together, in a single integrated system, every function of a business run from anywhere:
- local agent who handles customs formalities on the ground;
- a dedicated web interface to read your SMS live (banks' and platforms' OTP/2FA codes) received on your Bulgarian mobile line, from any device;
- Bulgarian corporate mobile line;
- office and registered address in Plovdiv with mail collection and scanning;
- AML point of contact;
- help assembling bank and fintech account-opening files, remotely — the client remains the applicant and the holder;
- dedicated static IP, optional;
- bookkeeping kept on the ground.
It is this inseparable infrastructure that creates the genuine economic substance — the kind that makes the tax advantage defensible and the company truly workable, rather than an empty shell.
Import into Europe via your Bulgarian company
Form your Bulgarian company 100% remotely, from €890 excl. VAT. You are ready to clear customs from your very first container, with human support from Plovdiv.
FAQ
What is the EORI number?
Who needs an EORI number?
What is the link between the EORI and VAT?
How do you obtain an EORI through a Bulgarian company?
Is a single EORI enough to import throughout the EU?
General information current as of 8 June 2026, not constituting personalised tax, legal, accounting or customs advice. The rules, rates, thresholds and timeframes are indicative, may change and vary according to your situation and the nature of the goods; check the thresholds and conditions applicable to your case. Fenchell Capital OOD — Bulgarian firm based in Plovdiv (EIK 207945095).