Refund of Duties

Act: Customs Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 1, 2nd Supp.
Regulation: Refund of Duties Regulations, SOR/86-945, as amended

To Whom Does This Apply?

Importers of commercial or casual goods.

Summary

The Customs Act governs the administration and enforcement of customs laws. It allows the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to collect or refund duties levied on imported goods. Part IV of the Customs Act allows for the refund of duties paid on imported goods.  

The Refund of Duties Regulations  provide for the refund of duties paid on imported goods where:

• the goods have suffered damage, deterioration or destruction at any time from the time of shipment to Canada to the time of release;
• the quantity of goods released is less than the quantity for which the duties were paid;
• the goods are of a quality inferior to that for which duties were paid;
• the goods were imported from a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA), or Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) country but no claim for preferential tariff treatment under a trade agreement was made for those goods at the time of accounting;
• duties have been overpaid or paid in error on the goods for any reason, other than an inaccurate determination as to the origin of goods imported from a NAFTA, CIFTA, or CCFTA country for which preferential tariff treatment under a free trade agreement is claimed, an inaccurate determination of tariff classification or an inaccurate appraisal of value for duty; or
• the goods that are defective, are of inferior quality or are not the goods ordered have been disposed of in an acceptable manner or exported.

If you require personal assistance contact the Customs Client Services Office closest to you (see Related Reading: Customs Offices - Supplement or from Canada Border Service Agency's Web site for a list of addresses).

For general questions on free trade agreements, you may call the Trade Agreements Information line at 1-800-661-6121, or fax your questions to (613) 952-0022.

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DISCLAIMER
Information contained in this section is of a general nature only and is not intended to constitute advice for any specific fact situation. For particular questions, the users are invited to contact their lawyer. For additional information, see contact(s) listed below.

Manitoba Contact(s):
See National Contact.

National Contact(s):
Border Information Service - BIS
Canada Border Services Agency
Telephone: 204-983-3500 or 506-636-5064 (for calls outside Canada)
Toll-free (information): 1-800-461-9999 (for calls within Canada)
Web site: http://www.cbsa.gc.ca/menu-eng.html