USAV Customs Brokers
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Refund
As the importer of record, you may apply for a refund of all or part of duties paid on your imported goods under any of the following circumstances:
(a) the goods have suffered damage, deterioration or destruction at any time from the time of shipment to Canada to the time of clearance;
(b) the quantity of goods received is less than the quantity in respect of which duties were paid;
(c) the quality of goods received is inferior to the quality in respect of which duties were paid;
(c.1) the goods were imported from a NAFTA country or from Chile but a preferential rate of duty under NAFTA or CCFTA has never been claimed;
(c.11) the goods were imported from Costa Rica or from Israel or another CIFTA beneficiary but a preferential rate of duty under CCRFTA or CIFTA has never been claimed;
(d) duties paid or overpaid were due to a clerical, typographical or similar error;
(e) duties paid or overpaid were due to incorrect determination of the country of origin, HS classification or Customs valuation of goods;
(f) the goods, or other goods into which they have been incorporated, are sold or otherwise disposed of to a person, or are used before any other used is made of the goods in Canada; or
(g) duties paid or overpaid were erroneous for any other reason that may be prescribed.
Critical time-frames for refund or appeal
You may apply for a refund of all or part of duties within four years of the date of B3 final accounting. However, if the goods were exported from a NAFTA country or from Chile, you may apply for a refund all of part of duties up to one year after the goods were accounted for.
Should you disagree with a decision made by CBSA, you can appeal it within ninety days of issuance of that decision.
Duty deferral
CBSA offers the duty deferral program to help Canadian importers/exporters improve their competitiveness around the world. You can use it to defer, relief or refund of duties on the goods that were imported into Canada but are subsequently exported from Canada, whether or not those goods undergo further manufacturing and/or processing in Canada.
The duty deferral program consists of the follow 3 sub-programs:
Customs Bonded Warehouse;
Duties Relief; and
Drawback.
You can use these 3 programs individually or in combination in the way that best suits your business needs. If you like, you can even move the goods between the sub-programs without invoking payment of duties.
Tips for applications of duty deferral
The Customs Bonded Warehouse program enables you to defer paying duties on your imported goods until they are released to any markets for consumption or exported from Canada. The Duties Relief program relieves you from paying duties on your imported goods if they will eventually be re-exported either in the same condition or after using, consuming or expending them to process other goods. The Drawback program has the same advantages as the Duties Relief program. The only difference is that the Drawback program is for you only if you have paid duties on your imported goods and are now requesting a refund of duties.
You should carefully review each option to find out the unique advantages for your business and which one best suits your needs. Using these programs may be a sound business move, enabling you to lower your operating costs and improve your cash flow.