U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that as of Sept. 30 it will deploy new functionality in the Automated Commercial Environment designed to make the availability of electronic refunds via Automated Clearinghouse more accessible. CBP expects this enhancement to provide operational and functional benefits to both itself and the trade community, including the fact that electronic refunds are less likely than paper checks to have post-payment issues such as claims of missing or misdelivered payments or check fraud.
CBP states that currently each importer or person, business firm, or other organization entitled to receive certain electronic refunds or other disbursements from CBP must submit an ACH Refunds Enrollment Form via email to CBP’s Revenue Division. Once CBP receives and manually processes that form, refunds are deposited electronically in the importer’s bank account.
The new ACE functionality – the ACH Refund Authorization tab in the ACE Secure Data Portal – will replace the email process and become the primary method for applying for ACH refunds (except for those unable to obtain an ACE Portal account, who may may continue to submit the form via email). Only individuals with the designated account owner role in the ACE Portal will be able to perform certain functions, including applying for ACH refunds. However, CBP is working to allow account owners to grant access to the refund authorization tab to other trade account users and will announce this development at a later date.
CBP notes that importers may designate a third party, such as a licensed customs broker, to receive a refund check on their behalf by submitting a CBP Form 4811 (special address notification) via email to the importer’s assigned Center of Excellence and Expertise or the Center that most closely aligns with the tariff number of their highest-valued commodity. However, designated third parties will continue to receive refunds via paper check until CBP transitions the refund process for them to electronic payment.
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