HMRC asks businesses to get ready for Brexit

The government is asking business owners to prepare for the 31 October, warning that leaving the EU without a deal means there will be immediate changes to the way UK businesses trade with the EU. 

In a statement issued this week, the government has reiterated that UK businesses will have to apply customs, excise and VAT processes to goods sold into the EU. These are the same rules that already apply for goods and services traded outside of the EU. 

In order to help business get ready for Brexit, the HMRC has started automatically issuing them with a UK EORI (Economic Operator Registration and Identification) number.

So far it has written to more than 88,000 VAT registered companies to let them know the UK EORI number they’ve been assigned.  

However, HMRC has cautioned that if a business is not VAT-registered, they will still need to apply now for a UK EORI. HMRC cannot give such businesses this automatically.

You can check the next steps you need to take to ensure that your business is ready for Brexit using the government's trader checklist.

"We will continue to provide you with the latest guidance and support to help you prepare your business for the UK leaving the EU," Jim Harra, deputy CEO and second permanent secretary at HMRC said.