CBP Confirms Refunds Won't Be Offered During Government Shutdown
During the government shutdown or "funding hiatus," CBP cannot offer refunds or any payments that involve receiving a check from the Treasury Department, including drawback claim payments, protests and post-summary corrections, a CBP official said during an Oct. 6 call to discuss shutdown-related issues.
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That's because CBP is still bound by its funding hiatus plan, which says that refunds processing is a function that the agency isn't authorized to fulfill because of the appropriation language, a CBP official said during the call.
In previous shutdowns, "we were prohibited from issuing refunds," the CBP official said, adding that this guidance is being reevaulated and that any changes would be communicated accordingly. CBP didn't issue refunds last Tuesday, when it was scheduled to do so, and it won't this week either, unless the agency receives different instructions, the official said. This applies to refunds regardless of how they are being paid out, whether through ACH or by check, he said.
If a company has received a notice that its protest has been approved, the importer won't need to take any additional action during the shutdown, a CBP official said.
"The refunds were queued up by the import specialist, and it will go through the normal refund process. And when we're given the green light to pull the switch here for those refunds to go out, they will go out and you will receive them," the official said.
Meanwhile, CBP's revenue division is still processing ACH debit applications, even though there is "a little bit of a backlog," an official said. Some CBP employees have been reassigned to address the backlog, the official continued.
CBP also is continuing to work on cases involving bond sufficiency, the official said.
Also, interest will continue to accrue during the shutdown for now, whether that interest is due to the government or to CBP.
"Just like when the trade is required to pay us timely, the government is also required to pay you timely. So, if we get outside of our 30 days," per 19 U.S.C. 1505, "the government is obligated to pay importers that interest," a CBP official said. However, in the last shutdown that exceeded 30 days, that provision was reevaluated, the official continued.
CBP officials noted that this shutdown is different from past ones, in that nearly all CBP employees are excepted or not furloughed, which means they are reporting to work.
That said, "we are limited in those functions that we're able to perform. The work that we are doing must be tied to mission-critical functions," a CBP official said. While "we are in business and set up to provide that support so that cargo will keep moving ... there are some subtleties, and I think there's some confusion perhaps about people's understanding of what that looks like."
While CBP officials didn't provide any additional details on the latest Section 232 tariffs, they indicated that guidance would come out through CBP's usual channels, such as CSMS messages.
Meanwhile, imports facing inspection holds at ports should reach out to their ports, as they may have a more current update on the status of a good's examination, particularly if that examination involves a partner government agency, an official said.