Private individual + good from China for personal use

Dear Sir/Madam, I have ordered a special MVHR unit (HS Code: 8418612090 , ~$2000) from China because it is impossible to buy similar in the UK. It shipped on 6th December, with "CIF London". My questions: - Can I start the tax and duty paying process in advance? Or do I have to wait until the unit arrives in the UK and you will notify me? - Do I need EORI number? Or anything else? Thank you for your help.

Under CIF it is your responsibility to sort out how the goods are declared to customs your Chinese supplier is unlikely to sort this out for you . If you have agreed CIF London - where in London does this mean. You need to know where the goods are going to arrive. You first need to understand whether The goods are coming by air , sea, by courier company such as FedEx ; DHL, UPS or post etc HMRC will not notify an importer of the requirement to complete a customs entry. If the goods come by post or courier they will notify you and sort out the duties etc. They will ask you to pay before they deliver. If it is Sea or Air the port/ airport will hold the goods until customs cleared . It is likely that if you have not arranged for a customs agent to clear the goods for you an agent not of your choosing will contact you. You are therefore best advised to find a customs agent yourself. As a private individual you don’t need an EORI but the taxes and duties are the same for everyone. It does not matter that the goods are for a private individual or not for resale.

Hi Krisztian Ferenczi,
EORI is not required if the goods are imported by private individual for personal use, it is required for commercial imports only.
In most cases couriers handle transportation and declarations and they will contact the importer to request the import charges and fees.
Customer needs to contact the courier for more updates on the item who is handling the import.
Thank you.