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Congratulation! You’ve finally decided to file for duty drawback. You’ve taken the first big step toward becoming one of the thousands of exporters that recover millions of dollars in U. S. Customs duties that they have paid on items imported and re-exported, or that are imported, used in manufacturing and then exported. But you’re sitting on a fence trying to choose the drawback program most suitable to your needs.
Currently, a drawback claim can be filed with U.S. Customs in one of three ways:
- Paper-only,
- Electronically via diskette, or
- Electronically via ABI
To date many exporters have chosen to retain a paper-only filing system. Although a paper-only filing system provides an importer with the basic means to file a drawback claim and receive their refund of import duties, it is fraught with difficulties and dangers.
A paper-only system is labor intensive. The time spent checking and rechecking data, making the required copies and collating the claim cost money! Additionally, a paper-only claim is inherently inaccurate. No matter how careful you are, the chances are that you won’t be able to capture all of the duty refundable to you with a manual, paper-only systems. At the other extreme are clerical errors that result in over-claiming. The first scenario cost you money; the second scenario results in the rejection of your claim by U.S. Customs and penalties.
But even if you’re willing to spend the time and money involved in the generation of a paper-only claim, and you’ll accept less of a refund than you are entitled to, are you willing to wait for an extended period of time before you receive your refund? We’ve heard from a number of importers that filing a paper-only claim can delay the receipt of your refund by a year or more!
The new and eagerly anticipated drawback regulations will eliminate paper-only drawback claims and require that claims be filed electronically. That is, either by diskette or via ABI. That means that any importer who does not have the ability to generate claims electronically will have paper-only claims unprocessed and returned.
And the new drawback regulations are almost upon us. Have your evaluated your drawback program recently? Are you ready to meet the changes and requirements of the new regulations? Or are you still sitting on a fence wondering what you’re going to do to meet Customs new drawback filing requirements? With a new year just around the corner, now is the perfect time to consider changing to a drawback system that provides you with the latest in drawback software technology and the ability to file your claims electronically, via either diskette or ABI. Isn’t it time you got off the fence?
One of the most well known rules of business is that "time is money." If your filing for drawback, the time to start is now. If you are filing, but you don’t file electronically, think about how much time.... and money.... you will save by computerizing your drawback program. With 1997 drawing quickly to a close, it’s time to look to the future.... and to be prepared for it when it arrives. Give yourself a competitive edge and implement or update your drawback filing capabilities before you need to.
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