The UK buyer wants DDP, then a VAT and an EORI: opening the store does not make you the importer

Bottom line:

The UK buyer who wants “DDP to the door” often asks next for a VAT or a GB EORI. Ask what they will do with the number: give it to their broker, recover tax, or make you the importer. If those three do not match, the cargo waits at a UK port.
A Hong Kong company that opened Alibaba.com is not issued a UK tax number. Apply for a GB EORI on GOV.UK. Register UK VAT with HMRC. An EU EORI, a platform IOSS and a Hong Kong Business Registration number do not fill that box.
DDP says who pays. The import entry still names someone responsible to HMRC. A forwarder who says “we will take care of tax” does not take that name. Without a UK establishment and numbers, switch to DAP or FOB before you quote a duty-paid door price.

Two lines often arrive in the same hour. The Manchester buyer: “Quote DDP, we don’t want to deal with customs.” Their finance team: “Please send your VAT and EORI so our broker can clear.” The floor has already booked a door delivery. Finance asks whether last week’s EU numbers can be retitled.

EU tax numbers are on VAT / EORI. Who is the US importer is on duty-paid and IOR. How the three door words split is on DDP / DAP. The floor gets stuck on one UK consignment: who imports, whose number is used, and whose name is on the entry.

1. The three things they ask for do not sit on one form

After Brexit, goods into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) no longer use the EU set of numbers. When a buyer says “tax number,” finance is usually looking at three layers.

What they say	What it is	Do you have it after opening a Hong Kong store?
EORI / GB EORI	UK customs ID on the import entry	No. See who may apply on GOV.UK
VAT / tax number	An HMRC VAT registration	No. The store does not issue one. Hong Kong also has no mainland-style VAT special invoice
DDP / duty paid to the door	Who, in the contract, takes clearance and the taxes due	No automatic setup. The entry still names the person responsible

An EU EORI built on a member-state VAT number will not clear a Great Britain entry. The IOSS on an Alibaba.com order page is the number the platform uses when it has already collected VAT. It is not your UK seller number. A Hong Kong Business Registration number in the GB EORI field comes back from the forwarder’s system first.

2. A GB EORI is not issued with the store, and not everyone can apply in their own name

The UK government calls it an Economic Operators Registration and Identification number. You need one to move goods between Great Britain or the Isle of Man and another country, including the EU. The official page is Who needs an EORI.

GOV.UK says you usually need premises in the country you are importing to or exporting from — a registered office, a headquarters, or a permanent place where customs work and HR and technical resources sit. A Hong Kong secretary floor and a mainland workshop are not UK premises.

The same page says: if you are not eligible to apply yourself, appoint someone to deal with customs, and that person obtains the EORI. You do not reformat a Hong Kong licence. Do not write an agent quote as an official filing fee. Use the GOV.UK channel that day. Do not copy a third-party price from a forum as an official fee.

When the buyer sends a number that starts with GB, they are usually the importer. Keep it for their column on the entry. Do not rewrite it as your company’s number, and do not put “registered” on the showcase.

3. DDP says who pays. The entry still names someone

Incoterms DDP means the seller delivers to the named place and takes import clearance and the duties and taxes that are due. Use the Incoterms edition written on the contract. It does not issue a tax number and does not name a forwarder.

A UK import entry names the person responsible to HMRC. Two common stories. Do not collapse them into “we will take care of it.”

FOB / CIF / DAP, a UK company as importer. The entry uses their GB EORI. Import VAT follows their VAT or their postponed arrangement. You issue the commercial invoice and packing list. If they ask for “your tax number,” ask who will use it. Often they want a field filled, not a registration by you.

The contract says DDP, to their warehouse or a private address, tax on you. The entry still needs a person responsible. A Hong Kong company without a UK establishment, and a forwarder who says “we will be the importer,” is often only a filing. Liability can sit with the seller or with no one named. The cargo waits. Without a written import setup, do not put DDP on the Trade Assurance order.

The US page splits “duty paid” from being the importer. The UK consignment is the same split: the person who pays and the person on the entry can be different words. Write who clears, whose number is used, and which account is charged — not four words of “all-in to the door.”

4. PVA is the buyer’s postponement, not your tax holiday

HMRC’s postponed VAT accounting note says you must be VAT-registered in the UK to account for import VAT on the VAT return instead of paying at the border first. There is no separate PVA licence, but the tick must be right on that entry.

The same page says: if someone imports on your behalf, tell them in writing that you want PVA; they must have that writing before they file. If a supplier arranges the import, buyer and seller agree in writing how import VAT will be accounted for, and the buyer gives their EORI to the supplier.

So “we have PVA, just ship DDP” means: they have a UK VAT number and want to account on their return. That is closer to them being the importer. If you stay the DDP seller and also use their PVA, the entry fields fight. Write first: who is the importer, whose EORI is on the entry, and whether import VAT is paid at the border or on their return.

Whether a Hong Kong company must register for UK VAT depends on whether you make taxable supplies in the UK. HMRC’s registration page says a business based outside the UK that supplies goods or services to the UK may have to register regardless of turnover; the detail sits in VAT Notice 700/1 on non-established taxable persons (NETPs). FOB to a UK company that imports is usually not “you already made a retail supply in the UK.” Do not put “every cross-border seller must register UK VAT” in the board pack. Thresholds and how late-registration is handled follow the HMRC page that day. Do not copy an agent quote.

5. “We’ll take care of tax” is not a name HMRC accepts

A UK forwarder can book, file and pay. Paying is not being the person responsible. A broker files on authority. Authority does not move the name.

Where the floor usually stops:

The quote already says DDP Manchester, and the forwarder will not book without a GB EORI. Open the inquiry: does the buyer have a UK company and numbers? If yes, ask whether they import, and change the term to DAP or write “seller pays freight, buyer imports.” If not, do not let the forwarder file on a borrowed number.

The box is in Felixstowe and the port wants a number. The number belongs to the person on the entry, not to a new Hong Kong invoice. Storage and demurrage those days follow the forwarder contract. Do not write them as a “platform rule.” How those charges split is on demurrage and detention.

The buyer sends an EU VAT as a UK number. A Great Britain import wants a GB EORI. Northern Ireland has its own path. Do not mix an EU number into that field. If they do not match, stop the booking. Do not load the container first.

Sales puts an EU IOSS on a UK parcel. IOSS is the EU import one-stop shop, not an HMRC number. How a UK parcel accounts for import VAT follows the carrier and HMRC that day. Do not print the platform’s EU number on the carton mark.

6. How to answer the inquiry

What they ask	A reply that holds	Do not reply
Quote DDP, we don’t want customs.	Please confirm whether your company will be the importer and whether you already have a GB EORI and a UK VAT. If yes, we can quote to the named place and you file the entry. Without a written import setup, we quote FOB or DAP first.	DDP is fine. We’ll add the tax numbers later.
Send your VAT and EORI.	Please say whether the numbers are for your broker, for your own entry, or because you want the seller to import. We are a Hong Kong seller. Opening the store does not issue UK numbers. If you import, use your GB EORI.	Use our EU number / Hong Kong registration for now.
We have PVA, just ship DDP.	PVA is how you account for import VAT on your UK return. Please confirm in writing that you are the importer and give your EORI and written instruction to the broker. That is not the same sentence as the seller paying the duty.	PVA means we skip registration and keep DDP.
Your forwarder can be the importer.	The forwarder can file. Please put in writing whose name is responsible. Without a UK establishment and numbers, we will not put DDP on this Trade Assurance order.	If the forwarder says they can, name them as importer.

Do not write “UK DDP duty paid,” “UK VAT included,” or “GB EORI certified” on the showcase. You can say you will work with the buyer’s import setup and put the detail on the order. Do not lock rates, agent fees or port penalties as site-wide official prices.

7. You already quoted a duty-paid DDP price

Tell sales the same day: that door price does not stand. Do not book the container as if you will clear.
Open the inquiry or the Trade Assurance order. Read the term, the place, and whether the buyer’s GB EORI / VAT is there.
Ask the buyer: who imports, who uses the numbers, whether import VAT is paid at the border or on their return, and who the broker is.
Keep EU tax numbers, the Responsible Person and REACH as their own files. Do not retitle them as UK papers.
If there is no import setup: change to FOB or DAP and issue a new price. Do not shave a “tax point” off the old number.
If the goods are already on the water: put the real importer in writing. Do not invent a GB number to get a release.

The membership fee still only buys the file and the showcases. Wire it to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED. Corpable does not register UK tax numbers and does not act as importer. Whether HMRC issues a number, and whether the port releases, follows their process that day.

Questions teams actually ask

We opened Alibaba.com on a Hong Kong company. Do we already have a UK VAT and a GB EORI?

No. The membership fee buys showcases, not tax numbers. A GB EORI is a UK customs ID, applied for on GOV.UK. UK VAT is an HMRC registration. An EU EORI and a Hong Kong Business Registration number do not replace them.

If the buyer wants DDP, must we be the importer?

Incoterms DDP says the seller takes import clearance and the duties and taxes that are due. A UK entry still names the person responsible to HMRC. A forwarder or broker does not become that person by saying “duty paid.” Without a UK establishment and a GB EORI, do not put DDP on the Trade Assurance order yet.

They sent us their VAT and EORI. Can we quote DDP now?

That usually means they will import on their own numbers. That is closer to DAP: goods to their place, tax on their side. Do not print their number as yours, and do not write “we are UK VAT registered.”

Does PVA let us skip registration and still sell duty paid?

No. HMRC says postponed VAT accounting is for a UK VAT-registered importer who accounts for import VAT on the VAT return. It is not a tax holiday for an unregistered Hong Kong seller. A broker cannot tick PVA without the importer’s written instruction.

May the showcase say “UK DDP / VAT included”?

Not without a matching import setup and numbers. HMRC publishes the rates that apply that day, including reduced and zero rates. “Included” will be screenshotted back. Write who imports and who pays tax before you write a price.

Can Corpable get a GB EORI or guarantee a UK duty-paid clearance?

No. An advisor can sit with you on who imports this consignment and which number the backend wants. We do not register with HMRC, act as importer, or guarantee clearance. Membership fees still wire to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED.