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Economic Activities Manual. Fiscal duties of employers and resident professionals in Spanish territory

1.6 Registration and identification number of economic operators - EORI

The EORI is an identification number, unique throughout the European Union, assigned by the customs authority to economic operators (persons or entities who, within the framework of a business or professional activity, carry out customs-related activities) to be used in their relations with customs authorities throughout the Union - submission of customs declarations and requests for authorisations.

Economic operators must have an EORI number assigned to them prior to submitting the customs declaration or requesting a decision or act of the customs authority.

The application for the EORI number is not subject to a specific format. It is requested at the Electronic Headquarters of the Tax Agency or in writing to the Customs and Excise Department corresponding to the interested party's tax domicile.

For operators established in Spain, with NIF assigned by the AEAT (or whoever must obtain it before requesting their EORI number), their EORI number will consist of:

  • Code ISO 2 digits of Spain (ES)

  • The Tax Identification Number assigned by the State Tax Administration Agency at the time of registration in the system EORI .

For operators not established in the European Union and NOT required to obtain a NIF because they do not carry out or will not carry out operations of a tax nature or with tax implications, their EORI number will consist of:

  • 2-digit ISO code for Spain ( ES ) followed by the letter K

  • An eleven-digit alphanumeric code.

This Identification Number assigned through registration in EORI will remain unchanged regardless of any possible changes that may occur in the Tax Identification Number of its holder.

The EORI should not be confused with the VIES number or with Authorized Economic Operators (AEO).

In relation to number VIES , economic operators who are going to carry out commercial operations with States of the European Union, whether they are exchanges of goods or services, must register as intra-community operators, which implies their registration in the census VIES .

Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) are trusted traders in their customs operations and will consequently enjoy advantages throughout the European Union. That is, all economic operators must have a EORI number while only those who wish to do so will apply for a OEA certificate in order to benefit from the corresponding advantages.