#customs
Customs
U.S. Customs and Border Protection compliance, HTS classification, entry procedures, broker relationships, and importer of record responsibilities
Customs Broker and Freight Forwarder Bookkeeping: Duty Trust Funds, Drawback Recordkeeping, and Why an Import Duty Isn't Your Expense
Under 19 CFR 111.29, customs brokers must book client duty payments as liabilities, remit funds to CBP within five working days, and furnish a written accounting statement within 60 calendar days — a discipline that also protects duty drawback claims, which can recover up to 99% of duties paid on later-exported goods.
How to File for Your IEEPA Tariff Refund Through CBP's CAPE Portal
CBP's CAPE portal lets importers of record file for IEEPA tariff refunds on entries filed between February 2025 and February 2026, with Phase 1 covering roughly 63% of affected entries and refunds targeted within 45 to 90 days plus accrued interest.
Life After Section 321: How Small E-Commerce Importers Are Rebuilding Landed Cost, Pricing, and Cash Flow in 2026
A practical guide for Shopify and Amazon FBA sellers on rebuilding landed cost, pricing, and bookkeeping after the May and August 2025 suspensions of the Section 321 de minimis exemption, with line-by-line duty math, entry-type tradeoffs, and cash-flow tactics.
Wine and Spirits Importer Bookkeeping: TTB Bonded Inventory, CBMA Refunds, Currency Hedging, and Depletion KPIs
How wine and spirits importers and beverage distributors build defensible books—segregating bonded vs. tax-paid inventory, accruing CBMA excise tax refunds under ASC 450, remeasuring foreign-currency payables under ASC 830, reconciling TTB Form 5000.24 to the general ledger, and tracking the cases-per-rep, depletion rate, and gross-profit-per-case KPIs the industry actually lives by.
HTS Codes and Tariff Classification for Small Importers in 2026: Why Importer of Record Liability Persists Even When You Use a Customs Broker
How the 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule, Chapter 99 add-ons, and Section 301 layers assign legal duty liability to the importer of record—not the broker—and how a prior disclosure under 19 U.S.C. § 1592(c)(4) can cap penalties at interest if you find errors before CBP audits.