The EU buyer wants a VAT number and an EORI: a Hong Kong company does not have them ready, and the platform IOSS is not yours

Bottom line:

When a German customer asks for “your tax number”, ask what they will do with it. VAT is the value-added tax number. EORI is the customs ID. The IOSS on the order page is the number the platform uses when it has already collected VAT. If those three are mixed, the invoice and the entry break first.
A Hong Kong company opened a store. The annual fee buys showcases. It does not issue an EU tax number. On FOB or CIF bulk, the EU buyer usually pays import VAT on their own numbers.
The Alibaba IOSS goes only on the clearance of a consignment the platform has already taxed. Do not print it as your Seller VAT. If you want your own IOSS, appoint an intermediary established in the EU. A secretary address will not do.

Finance chats often forward this: “The German customer wants a VAT number. The web says every cross-border seller must register. Let’s get one on the Hong Kong licence this week.” The next message has already stacked an Amazon fulfilment article on top of your Trade Assurance container.

Look first at who imports this consignment, and whether the order has already collected VAT. Missing a tax number also does not make you the EU responsible person; the name on the pack is on Responsible Person. Who clears and who pays is on DDP / DAP.

1. They asked for a tax number. Ask what they will do with it

The same “send VAT number” can mean import deduction, a courier clearance, or a habit of collecting a number from every supplier. If you answer “we have one” before you know which, the papers will not match.

What they say	What they usually do with it	Do you have it after opening the store?
VAT number	VAT return, input deduction, proof the buyer is a company	No. A Hong Kong commercial invoice is also not a mainland VAT special invoice; see USD receipts
EORI	The import entry	A Hong Kong licence is not an EORI. Register when you actually lodge a declaration, if you are not established in the Union customs territory
IOSS / a number starting IM	A parcel not over EUR 150 sold to a consumer, VAT taken at sale	Not a Verified add-on. If the platform collected the tax, use the platform number. If you use the scheme yourselves, appoint an EU intermediary

VAT is registered in each member state. EORI is a customs ID. IOSS registration is on the Commission One Stop Shop page. What Germany charges today belongs on a written broker estimate, not in the contract as a chat percentage.

2. On a bulk order the numbers are usually the buyer’s

You sell on the Hong Kong channel and ship a Trade Assurance container. The buyer is usually an EU company. They purchase on their VAT and import on their EORI, or a broker under power of attorney. You issue a commercial invoice, packing list and origin papers. That does not make you an EU taxpayer.

“Every cross-border seller must register German VAT” is written for stock in a European warehouse, sales to consumers, or a platform that collects the tax. Common for Amazon and DTC parcels. A Hong Kong company shipping FOB is not on that path.

Before you reply, ask: company or consumer, who is the importer, and whether VAT is paid at import by the buyer or already taken on the order. Until that is clear, do not say “we have a European tax number, duty-paid.” Duty-paid and who stands as importer are also not one sentence; the US split is on IOR versus the forwarder.

3. Do not print the Alibaba IOSS on your invoice

On some orders the platform collects VAT and posts a number for the forwarder. The platform’s own notice says the IOSS is only for EU import declarations on orders the platform has already taxed. The buyer’s VAT is a different field; if they gave one, the system uses it first.

These are the lines finance most often gets wrong:

Printing the platform IOSS on the Hong Kong invoice as Seller VAT.
Using it on a bulk entry the platform did not tax, as if you were already VAT-registered in the EU.
Letting a forwarder use it on another platform or another contract.

Whether this order collected VAT is on the order page that day, not on a forum screenshot. If it did, match freight, goods and the invoice to the same order number. If it did not, destination VAT follows the Incoterm and the buyer.

4. Your own IOSS needs an EU intermediary, not a secretary floor

You only need your own IOSS if you really post parcels to EU consumers from Hong Kong, the intrinsic value is not over EUR 150, and you want to charge VAT at sale so the buyer is not billed again at import. The Commission says a taxable person not established in the EU must appoint an EU-established intermediary. The intermediary is liable for the return and the tax. Public material names Norway as able to register directly. Hong Kong is not on that list.

A Hong Kong registered office, a secretary floor and a mainland plant are not “established in the EU”. A rented European mailbox is not an appointed intermediary. Fees and guarantees sit in that contract. There is no site-wide euro price.

Even then, IOSS covers qualifying parcels. It does not cover a Trade Assurance container, and it does not replace the responsible person or CBAM. Factory emissions data is on the CBAM pack.

5. How to answer the inquiry

What the buyer asks	A reply that holds	Do not say
Send your EU VAT so we can import and deduct.	We are the Hong Kong seller. The invoice is a commercial invoice. Import VAT and deduction use your VAT. Please send your VAT and EORI; we will match the documents to those fields.	Use our Hong Kong BR as VAT, or paste a platform IOSS.
Parcel to Germany — do you have IOSS?	Check whether this order has already collected VAT. If it has, the forwarder uses the platform number on the order page, and only for this consignment. If not, import VAT follows a written forwarder plan. No verbal “tax included”.	Yes, our Hong Kong IOSS covers every European parcel.
The web says we must register German VAT first.	That path is common when you hold stock in Europe or sell to consumers. This is a Hong Kong-company bulk order on Alibaba.com. The buyer imports under the contract unless we write otherwise.	Fine — we will register in Germany before quoting.
Does CIF Hamburg include European VAT?	No. CIF is to the port. Import clearance and VAT usually stay with the buyer. If the seller is to bear tax, talk DDP and name the importer.	CIF means tax-paid to the warehouse.

Do not write “EU tax included”, “VAT registered” or “IOSS clearance” on the showcase. You can say commercial invoices and origin documents are available, and import taxes follow the contract. A “tax included” badge on the main image will be treated as a promise.

6. If you already said “we have a European tax number”

Tell sales the same day: stop sending tax-inclusive totals. The line in the chat does not stand.
Ask the buyer: company or consumer, their VAT and EORI, who imports, and whether the platform collected tax on this order.
Open the order page. Is the posted number the platform IOSS or the buyer’s VAT? If it does not match, do not ship.
If the bulk order stays FOB / CIF with the buyer importing, write that destination VAT is theirs. If the seller is to bear it, issue a dated DDP estimate. A one-line chat from sales does not decide it.
If the cargo is already moving and the port wants a number: send only documents that match this contract. Do not drop the platform IOSS onto another bill of lading, and do not change origin “to match the tax number”.

The membership fee still only buys filing and showcases, wired to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED. Corpable does not register tax numbers and does not lend IOSS. How a tax office or customs desk assesses follows their current process.

Questions teams actually ask

We opened Alibaba.com on a Hong Kong company. Do we already have an EU VAT number?

No. The membership fee buys showcases, not a VAT registration. Hong Kong also has no mainland-style VAT special invoice. If they ask for “your EU VAT”, ask whether they need it for import, deduction, or a small parcel. On a bulk order they usually use their own number.

Are EORI and VAT the same number?

No. VAT is for value-added tax. EORI is for the customs entry. Some countries build an EORI from a VAT number; they are still two registrations. A Hong Kong licence is not an EORI. A company not established in the Union customs territory registers when it actually lodges a declaration.

Can we put the Alibaba IOSS from the order page on our quote and invoice?

Not as your tax number. That is the number Alibaba.com uses when it collects VAT on a qualifying order. It is only for clearance of that already-taxed consignment. The buyer’s VAT, and any number you obtain later, are different. A mismatch can be taxed twice and will not reconcile.

Can our Hong Kong company register for IOSS and use it on every parcel?

You can discuss it, but a Hong Kong company is not established in the EU. The Commission requires an EU-established intermediary for the import scheme. Hong Kong cannot register directly the way Norway can. What the intermediary charges is in their contract; there is no single official euro fee. A Trade Assurance container usually does not use IOSS anyway.

May the showcase say “EU VAT included / German VAT registered”?

Not without a written number and a named importer. FOB and CIF usually leave destination VAT out. On bulk orders the buyer more often imports on their own numbers. “Tax included” on the listing will be screenshotted back at you.

Can Corpable obtain an EU VAT number or lend us the platform IOSS?

No. An advisor can sit with you on the order page and the reply. We do not register tax numbers, lend IOSS, or collect membership fees. Registration and assessments follow the member-state authorities.