How far back can I claim a refund of duty in Canada?

Four years from the date the goods were accounted for. That is section 74 of the Customs Act. It works the other way too: if a declaration is wrong and you owe money, section 32.2 gives you 90 days from the day you have reason to believe it is wrong.

What actually gets filed, and who files it?

An adjustment request against the Commercial Accounting Declaration, with the reason code and the supporting documents. We prepare the complete package and follow it until CBSA answers. The filing is made by YES Express, a licensed Canadian customs broker, under its own licence.

Do I have to change my customs broker?

No. The look back is on entries that were already filed and closed. Your current broker keeps clearing your new shipments the whole time.

Nothing unless money comes back. The share is agreed in writing before any work starts, and nothing is filed with CBSA until you tell us to.

What do you need from me?

The Commercial Accounting Declarations your broker sends after each clearance, plus the matching commercial invoices. If they are not to hand, they are in your CARM Client Portal under Transaction History. Send as many or as few as you have.

The duty was right but the GST looks wrong. Does that come back too?

GST works differently and it is worth knowing before you expect a cheque. CBSA will accept the adjustment, but if you are a GST registrant the amount reaches you as an input tax credit from the Canada Revenue Agency, not as a credit on your CBSA account.

What happens if you cannot prove a line?

We say so. The report names the document that would close it and who it has to come from, and we chase it with you. We will not guess at a line to make a number look better, and we cannot promise a supplier overseas will answer.

New: 25 % surtax on wood cabinets and vanities — safeguard code 26169A CBSA’s latest verification round: 89 % of closed cases on bags and cases came back wrong 10 % surtax on canned vegetables — safeguard code 26135A Paid the 25 % surtax on US goods before it was repealed? It comes back by adjustment — two years from import to claim it

Customs errors are expensive.
We find them.

Audit your Canadian customs entries for classification, duty, tax, valuation, origin and compliance errors, before they cost you more.

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NORQUIN

ENTRY CHECK REPORT · 2026-08-19

Norquin Importers Ltd.

Entry no.	10000000000001
Type	AB · version 1
Cargo control	1234567890000001
Release date	2025-10-02
Mode · office	Marine · 0497
Filed by	Previous broker
Report	NQ-0001 · 2026-08-19

CORRECT

3 of 5 lines

Classification, unit, treatment, rate, duty math and GST all match T2025. Filed and due agree to the cent.

OVERPAID — 1

$651.00

Line 3 was rated at 9 % where the tariff carries 6.5 %. Recoverable by adjustment.

CANNOT PROVE — 1

$2,028.60

Line 5 claims United States origin at 0 %. The certification of origin is not in the documents.

Findings

what is wrong and what to file

FINDING 1.1Ornaments rated at 9 % where the tariff carries 6.5 %

$651.00

Line 3 is classified 3926.40.90.00, statuettes and other ornamental articles of plastics. The MFN rate for that tariff item is 6.5 %. The entry applied 9 %. The classification itself is not in question; only the rate applied to it is.

	AS FILED	SHOULD BE
Duty on line 3	2,232.00	1,612.00
GST on line 3	1,351.60	1,320.60

To file: one adjustment covering line 3. Duty of $620.00 comes back from CBSA. The $31.00 of GST reaches a registrant as an input tax credit from the CRA, not as a credit on the CBSA account. The corrected declaration boxes are set out in section 03; they are not repeated here. ↩ back to the lineCustoms Tariff T2025, Chapter 39 · heading 39.26

Lines

as filed, with the check result on each line

			AS FILED		SHOULD BE
LN	GOODS AS FILED	VALUE FOR DUTY	DUTY	GST	DUTY	GST	CHECK
1	Plastic pen holders3926.10.00.90 · MFN 6.5 %	4,180.00	271.70	222.59	271.70	222.59	✓
2	Plastic storage boxes3926.90.99.90 · MFN 6.5 %	2,940.00	191.10	156.56	191.10	156.56	✓
3	Plastic ornaments3926.40.90.00 · MFN 6.5 %	24,800.00	2,232.00	1,351.60	1,612.00	1,320.60	✗ 1.1
4	Plastic sun visors6506.91.00.00 · MFN 9 %	1,650.00	148.50	89.93	148.50	89.93	✓
5	Handbags, textile outer4202.22.90.20 · UST %	18,400.00	0.00	920.00	0.00	920.00	? 2.1
	Total	51,970.00	2,843.30	2,740.68	2,223.30	2,709.68

These line totals roll up into boxes 113 · 119 · 120 · 123 · 129 · 130 of the declaration — shown box by box in section 03 below.

Declaration totals

every box, as filed against what the check says

BOX	DECLARATION TOTALS	AS FILED	SHOULD BE
113	Total Value for Duty	51,970.00	51,970.00
114	Total PST / HST	0.00	0.00
115	Total PST Cannabis Amount	0.00	0.00
116	Total Prov. Alcohol Tax Amount	0.00	0.00
117	Total Prov. Tobacco Amount	0.00	0.00
118	Declaration Total Relieved	0.00	0.00
119	Total Amount	5,583.98	4,932.98
120	Total Customs Duties	2,843.30	2,223.30
121	Total Excise Duties	0.00	0.00
122	Total Excise Taxes	0.00	0.00
123	Total GST	2,740.68	2,709.68
124	Total Anti-Dumping	0.00	0.00
125	Total Countervailing	0.00	0.00
126	Total Surtaxes	0.00	0.00
127	Total Safeguards	0.00	0.00
128	Total Interest	0.00	0.00
129	Total Duties & Taxes with Interest	5,583.98	4,932.98
130	TOTAL Duties & Taxes	5,583.98	4,932.98

Boxes shown exactly as on the declaration. Marked values are what was filed; bold is what the check says the box should read.

Open items

cannot be proven from the CAD; each names what closes it

OPEN 2.1Line 5 claims United States origin; the certification is not in the documents

$2,028.60

Line 5 is entered under tariff treatment UST at 0 %. Nothing in the declaration or the commercial invoice states the origin criterion, and no certification of origin was supplied with the entry. Without it the goods fall to MFN 10.5 %, which is duty of 1,932.00 and GST of 96.60 on this line. We are not saying the claim is wrong. We are saying it is not proven, and on a verification it would be assessed. Closes with: a CUSMA certification of origin from the exporter covering the date of this shipment. ↩ back to the lineD11-4-2 · CUSMA certification of origin

Check log

every check we run, per line or group

LN	GOODS	CLS	UOM	TRT	RATE	MATH	VAL	REL	GST	SIMA	REF
1	Plastic pen holders 3926.10.00.90	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	✓	✓
2	Plastic storage boxes 3926.90.99.90	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	✓	✓
3	Plastic ornaments 3926.40.90.00	✓	✓	✓	✗	✓	✓	–	✓	✓	1.1
4	Plastic sun visors 6506.91.00.00	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	✓	✓
5	Handbags, textile outer 4202.22.90.20	✓	✓	?	✓	✓	✓	–	✓	✓	2.1

– = the check does not apply to this entry (no relief or special authority was claimed).

Sources

every rate and rule above traces to one of these

Customs Tariff T2025, Chapter 39 — https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2025/html/00/ch39-eng.html (Wayback 2025-10-17)
Customs Tariff T2025, Chapters 42 and 65 — https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2025/html/00/ch42-eng.html · …/ch65-eng.html (Wayback 2025-10-17 / 2025-10-06)
D11-4-2, Proof of origin of imported goods — https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d11/d11-4-2-eng.html
Codes: D17-1-10 (Field 14 tariff treatments) — https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d17/d17-1-10-eng.pdf · T2025 list of countries — https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2025/html/countries-pays-eng.html

What is Norquin?The platform that reads every CAD and files the correction.

Try it on one of your entries See the full report

Cleared is not correct.

CBSA released it without reading it. We read every line against the tariff in force that day.

CBSA releases in seconds without opening the file, and the declaration stays yours for four years. We re-read every line against the tariff edition in force on that accounting date, and name the item we read it against.

The difference is money.

What was right, what was overpaid, what cannot be proven. Priced to the cent.

Every line comes back as one of three answers. The overpaid ones carry the rate that should have applied, duty and GST apart — duty returns from CBSA, GST through the CRA as an input tax credit.

We file it, not you.

We prepare the adjustment. A licensed Canadian broker files it under its licence.

You get the adjustment package: the corrected boxes, the reason, and the source for each. A licensed Canadian customs broker submits it under its own licence and follows it until CBSA answers. Nothing is filed until you say so.

Stop searching. Start recovering.

Manually reviewing thousands of import transactions for potential duty refunds is time-consuming and easy to overlook.

Book a demo

How it works / 01

Drop. File. Recover.

Upload the CAD to Norquin.

No spreadsheets. No manual searching. No digging through years of customs records. Just drag and drop.

Inside the step

What we needThe CAD your broker filed · PDF

AccountNone for the first entry

The readEvery line, against the tariff of its day

See what your data is hiding.

Your last 4 years of imports could contain refund opportunities.

NORQUINYour entries

$10,149.70Found, still to claim

44Lines read on the newest entry

3Lines a person must read

Entry	Importer	Entry date	Duty filed	Result	Recoverable	Claim
10000000000044	Norquin Importers Ltd.	19.06.2026	$19,091.44	8 flagged	$5,065.50	For sign-off
10000000000045	Northwind Trading Co.	02.05.2026	$12,480.00	3 flagged	$1,204.00	Money back
10000000000046	Maple Ridge Imports Inc.	13.04.2026	$8,830.20	3 flagged	$3,880.20	Filing
10000000000049	Beaumont Housewares Ltd.	18.02.2026	$3,960.00	clean	—	Signed off

How much duty did you pay? Every line of every entry, with the duty and GST it carried, added up across the last four years.

NORQUINENTRY CHECK REPORT

02Linesas filed, with the check result on each line

Ln	Goods	Classification	Value for duty	Duty filed	Should be
29	Combined Refrigerator-freezers	8418.10.90.13 · US 010	$16,400.00	$0.00	—	? 2.1
30	Domestic Swivel Chairs	9401.31.10.00 · US 010	$6,880.00	$0.00	—	? 2.1
31	Vinyl Wall Coverings	3918.90.90.20 · US 010	$3,590.00	$0.00	—	? 2.1
32	Men's Cotton Anoraks	6201.30.90.00 · US 002	$12,400.00	~~$2,108.00~~	$0.00	✗ 1.1
33	Men's Cotton Work Trousers	6203.42.00.41 · US 002	$8,900.00	~~$1,513.00~~	$0.00	✗ 1.2
35	Wooden Desks, Domestic	9403.60.10.10 · CN 002	$7,800.00	~~$819.00~~	$741.00	✗ 1.4
39	skim milk powder (consolidated grocery Sku)	0402.10.10.00 · NZ 002	$5,400.00	$39.84	—	? 2.1

34 of 44 lines agree with the tariff · checked against T2026

Were the tariff treatment or codes filed correctly? Each classification and treatment checked against the Customs Tariff in force the day the entry was filed.

What was overpaid? The lines where the duty charged is more than the tariff carries, priced to the cent, with the rate they should have had.
NORQUINENTRY CHECK REPORT
03To fileone adjustment per finding, ready for a broker
- Prepared
  One adjustment covering line 32. Duty of $2,108.00 comes back from CBSA once the certification of origin is on file.
- Prepared
  8 adjustments in all, $5,065.50 indicated recoverable across the entry.
- Waiting
  A licensed Canadian customs broker files it under its licence. Nothing leaves until you say so.
ClaimFiling
WindowFour years from accounting · s.74
Entry10000000000044
What is the correction path? For every finding, the adjustment package, ready for a licensed Canadian customs broker to file.

	As filed	Should be
Duty on line 32	~~$2,108.00~~	$0.00
GST on line 32	~~$725.40~~	$620.00

Overpayments we’ve already uncovered

Real overpayments we found.

$25,367

Upfront cost to review your CADs.

Our team. Three people, one of them licensed.

Daniel Park

Licensed Canadian customs broker

Vlad Pustobaev

Product and engineering

Roman Kiritsev

Sales and outreach

You did your duty, let Norquin do ours.

Let’s see what you can get back.

Start your refund process

Customs errors are expensive.We find them.