Import of custom printed sports clothing made in Bulgaria

We are a sports club (unincorporated association) who wish to import some custom printed club branded sports clothing for personal use by our members. Each member is paying for their own item but we order in bulk because there are minimum order quantities to avoid extra design costs and also to reduce shipping costs. The clothing is manufactured in Bulgaria and sold by the manufacturer to us. The cost of the order will be in excess of a thousand euros. I understand the supplier / manufacturer will not charge VAT. I understand therefore we would pay VAT at point of import at 20%. Do we have to pay import duty as well as VAT for sports clothing imports from the EU? Two other clubs that made similar imports said duty was charged by the courier (DHL). The UK government online tool suggested duty rate (tariff) was zero for EU. Someone else told me that obtaining an EORI number would enable import duty to not be paid. Can anyone give a clear explanation of the situation?

Hi You are correct that the supplier won’t charge their domestic VAT beacuse the goods are being exported rather than used domestically in Bulgaria. Yes you will pay UK VAT at import. Although you have seen the Duty rate for EU goods being zero , that only applies to if the goods are manufactured in the EU , meet the specific or rules set out in the trade agreement and supported by a specially worded statement from the exporter. If these conditions are not met then the standard all country duty rate applies. You therefore need to ask the supplier if they are able to provide a preferential origin statement. An EORI number is an importer/ exporter ID number and does not impact whether taxes apply or not. Nor does personal use make any difference to the duty and tax liability.

Hi Duncan,
You can use trade tariff UK to find a commodity code for goods you’re importing to or exporting from the UK.
This will allow you to check if there’s duty or VAT to pay and find out about suspensions or reductions.
You can choose the country of origin and it will show you if the preference is available.
It will also show you what evidence is required to claim a preference.
Trade Tariff: look up commodity codes, duty and VAT rates
You can check below link for information on EORI. 
Get an EORI number
Thank you.