Customs & Compliance Consulting

Applying for rulings on a company's behalf for tariff, valuation or a free trade qualification relating to a specific commodity a company has imported.

A B2 refund claim is the required paperwork and process followed when requesting an adjustment.

This service involves a complete audit of past import transactions to evaluate the assigned tariff classifications, duties, GST, and other commodity taxes. The audit will serve to identify overpayments and minimize future disbursements and maximize compliance.

Accurate classification of the product is the step most often overlooked. The world's most important trading countries use the Harmonized System (HS) of tariff nomenclature to identify and classify all imported and exported goods for the purpose of compiling trade statistics and determining applicable duty rates.

Companies that reside outside of Canada and wish to do business in Canada can become Non-Resident Importers (NRIs).

A variety of penalties can be applied for infractions incurred by importers. Each recurrent penalty increases the monetary amount of the next infraction. It is crucial that all penalties, regardless of size or level, be appealed to ensure future compliance costs are kept to a minimum. Import profiles reflect the amount of Customs enforcement a company receives and determines the frequency of customs audits. 

A Penalty Reduction Agreement (PRA) is an option for importers to reduce the amount of penalty owing by applying the penalty amount toward improving compliance in their in-house systems with the issue raised in the penalty assessment.

Seizures and ascertained forfeiture occur when goods have not been reported or were undervalued for Customs purposes. Seizures of goods may occur if the CBSA feels that the goods entered Canada under a false declaration, illegally entered Canada, or not declared at all. If the goods cannot be seized, the CBSA may issue a monetary penalty as an ascertained forfeiture. 

Canadian manufacturers can submit requests for tariff relief to Finance Canada, which assesses requests by evaluating their potential impact on other Canadian producers. When granted, tariff relief is normally provided by reducing the duty rate applicable to specific tariff items through amendments to the customs tariff. It becomes effective upon approval by the government. There are numerous relief programs that reduce or eliminate duty. 

Duty and taxes are calculated on the lowest possible, legally acceptable customs value in Canadian funds. Customs value is usually based on the transaction value or the total price paid/payable. However, certain costs may be deducted from (or certain costs must be added to) the price paid/payable to determine the final customs value. To qualify certain costs, consideration must be given to the valuation regulations, and further understanding of the entire cost of the goods purchased.

Voluntary/Prior disclosures (VD) are used by an importer/exporter to notify Customs of discrepancies inherent in their trans-border transactions. It allows the importer to eliminate the potential penalties that would normally apply if the discrepancies were found during a verification (audit). These disclosures may also be made on an anonymous basis until a company is accepted into the VDP, by Customs. Exporters found to be non-compliant on their export reporting processes can also file for a VD.