Commercial Payments and Accounts
Payments
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While the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) encourages all clients to make payments electronically, monthly account balances of more than $50,000 must be made in this way.
Payments of less than $50,000 can be made in a variety of ways, depending on whether you are importing as a Cash Client, if you hold Account Security (ASEC) with CBSA, or a participant of the GST Direct Payment Option or the Importer Direct Security Option. All payments are to be made in Canadian currency.
Cash Clients may make payments in person at a CBSA office. Clients are encouraged to pay using debit or credit card and in Canadian currency.
Customs brokers and importers who make monthly account payments, i.e. those securing goods either directly or under the Importer Direct Security Option with a customs broker, or those under the Goods and Services Tax Direct Payment Option with a customs broker, are required to remit interim and monthly payments centrally or electronically. Importers' Cash B3 payments, B2 adjustment payments and non-commercial payments will continue to be accepted at all Ports of Entry (POEs) with no change to the current process. K23, K9 and Administrative Monetary Penalties payment processes remain unchanged.
Payments are due on the last business day of the month by 16:00 Eastern time. If full payment has not been received by the deadline, a late payment penalty and interest may be applied to the outstanding balance.
| Month | Due date | Deferred to date |
|---|---|---|
| February | 2020-02-28 | 2020-03-02 |
| March | 2020-03-31 | 2020-04-01 |
| May | 2020-05-29 | 2020-06-01 |
| October | 2020-10-30 | 2020-11-02 |
Any other exceptions to payment due dates will be communicated via Account Receivable Ledger (ARL) bulletins and posted online as they become available. To sign up for our bulletin mailing list, visit the Contact the ARL team page. Select "Finding information" and "Sign up for ARL Bulletins". For information on acceptable methods of payment, see Memorandum D17-5-1.
Monthly Account Payment Options
Commercial payments are made to the CBSA through the National Payment Processing Centre located in Ottawa. Centralization of payments improves the accuracy and reconciliation of client accounts. The Agency is encouraging importers to remit their payments electronically, either by online banking or electronic data interchange (EDI) 820 payment file also known as EDI820; and Customs Broker are encouraged to remit their payments by EDI820. Electronic payment will reduce complex manual adjustment activities, and ensure that your payments to the CBSA are received on time and error free.
All customs brokers and importers who make monthly account payments, i.e. those under the GST Direct Payment Option, or those securing their own goods under the Importer Direct Security Option are required to make interim and monthly payments by either sending a physical payment package to the National Payment Processing Centre, via online banking (importers only) or through EDI820 (importers and brokers). Outside of the following exceptions, payments will no longer be accepted at POEs:
- Customs brokers or importers remitting payment over $25 million who have previously been pre-approved while implementing EDI820; and
- Importers or customs brokers paying by debit card, and
- Credit card payments under the $5,000 limit.
Sending Payment Packages to the National Payment Processing Centre
Payments packages are to be sent to the following address:
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
Mailroom
Attention: Accounts Receivable Management Unit
333 North River Road, Place Vanier, Tower A
Ground Floor, Room 1018
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0L8
Telephone: 343-291-5265 (For courier reference)
End-of month envelopes/packages are to contain:
- Customs Broker/Importer Cheque – Customs Brokers/importers are to provide a single cheque to pay their Statement of Account (SOA). It should be noted that the banking regulations in Canada require payments over $25M to be made electronically. As a result, the National Payment Processing Centre will not be able to accept cheques over $25M. If this is a concern, contact the ARL team.
- Importer Cheques – If importers are under the GST Direct Payment Option or have their own account security and cheques are currently submitted as part of the customs broker payment package, include these cheques in your package. Ensure that the importer business number RM account (BN15) (e.g. , 123456789RM0001) is on the cheque. "G" or "I" importers are, however, encouraged to use electronic payment to make these payments, or they can remit directly to the CBSA by courier to the address above.
- Reconciliation Exception Sheet (RES) – Customs brokers and importers are expected to pay their SOA in full. In exceptional circumstances there may be a requirement to short pay a SOA. If this occurs, complete the RES. A hard copy of the RES should be included in the payment package. The RES should also be emailed to: CBSA.Payments-Paiements.ASFC@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca. The subject line should read: {Month} SOA allocation, {Account Security #} re: Monthly PAS and RES. Ensure your contact information is included on the RES. The RES and the PAS can be submitted in the same email.
Delivery timing
- The payment deadline is 16:00 local time on the day the payment is due.
- Clients should verify cut-off times and delivery commitments with their couriers.
- You can request delivery receipt of your physical payment package through the tracking solutions of your courier.
- The CBSA is flexible in response to unforeseen events. If there are circumstances for your organization which make it difficult to meet these deadlines, contact the ARL team.
E-Payment
Monthly account balances of more than $50,000 must be paid either through online banking or through Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) 820.
The CBSA is encouraging all clients to make payments electronically. Electronic payment provides a convenient, automated solution to ensure that payments to the CBSA are received on time and error free.
Note: The CBSA does not charge a service fee for either of these options; however, some financial institutions or service providers may. Contact your financial institutions or service providers to ask about fees.
Option 1 - Online Banking
Importers making their own monthly payments are able to do so online through participating financial institutions (FIs). This includes importers making payments for GST under the GST Direct Payment Option or importers who have their own account security and pay their own duties and taxes. Importer online payments are intended for the importer total payable amount, which is displayed on the importer month-end statement of account. Importers who engage the services of a customs broker should discuss electronic payment options and their amount payable with their broker.
Importers are to visit their FI's web bill payment portal and select one of the following payee names in the regular bill payment section where you would find your other bill payments. (Please note the CBSA is NOT listed in the Tax filing platform):
- CBSA Duties Taxes Fees, or
- CBSA Duties, Taxes and Fees, or
- Canada Border Services Agency, or
- Agence des Services Frontaliers du Canada, or
- ASFC droits taxes frais.
Each FI has its own standard to name a payee. Importers are to use their business number (BN15, e.g. 123456789RM0001) as the account number (not the Canada Revenue Agency RT account number). To access the phone option, importers are to contact their FI for initial set-up.
- Clients paying using online banking will receive a confirmation number from their financial institution.
- Online banking is currently offered by:
- The CBSA is currently in discussions with other FIs regarding EDI and online banking.
Payment cut-off times are determined by each FI. Clients using the EDI820 payment method are responsible for knowing and adhering to their FI's EDI cut-off time in order to avoid late payment. Please note: This option is only available for importers.
Option 2 - Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) 820 Payment
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is a standardized method of electronically exchanging information between and within businesses, organizations, government entities and other groups. The type of EDI connection that is implemented is dependent on business needs. To make payments to the CBSA on commercial accounts, an EDI820 connection is required to transmit EDI820 payment files.
An EDI820 payment file is the electronic transmission of payment allocation instructions that is sent from the client to the financial institution (FI), directing the funds to be moved to the CBSA account. Upon receipt, the FI moves the funds from the client account to the CBSA account. At the end of the day, the FI moves the funds from the CBSA account to the Bank of Canada and sends the EDI820 payment file via a Value Added Network (VAN) to the CBSA.
An EDI820 payment file allows customs brokers to provide payment allocation details related to the accounts they are paying and the amount to be applied. Once the CBSA receives the EDI820 payment file, the payment is automatically allocated to the client accounts as instructed in the file, improving payment allocation accuracy. Clients should contact their FI client relationship manager to inquire about implementing and testing EDI820 payment capability.
EDI820 payment to the CBSA is available with:
- Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
- Scotiabank
- TD Canada Trust
- Bank of Montreal (BMO)
- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
- National Bank
- Shinhan Bank of Canada
The CBSA is currently in discussions with other FIs regarding EDI and online banking.
Payment cut-off times are determined by each FI. Clients using the EDI payment method are responsible for knowing and adhering to their FI's EDI cut-off time in order to avoid late payment.
Application of Payment
Payments on your account will be applied to outstanding debits with the new offsetting rules in the following order:
| Type of Credits | Type of Debits |
|---|---|
| 1. Payments | 1. B3 (including LAP) |
| 2. B3 (Cancellations of LAP) | 2. B2 |
| 3. B2 Refunds, K32 Drawbacks, K9 Cancellations, NPA Cancellations | 3. NSF |
| 4. NPA, K9 | |
| 5. K23 | |
| 6. Interest |
Please note, each credit types 1 through 3 will be used to offset all of the debit types before moving on to the next credit type on the list; i.e. payments will clear debit types 1 through 6. If there are any remaining debits, B3 (Cancellations of LAP) will offset debit types 1 through 6. If there are still remaining debits, then B2 refunds, K32 drawbacks, K9 cancellations, and NPA cancellations will be used to offset them. Any remaining credits will remain on the account and will be factored in the next SOA.
Note:
- Custom broker payments will only clear importer transactions that were associated with the customs broker's account security;
- Importer transactions can clear with other importer transactions, consultant tagged transactions, or GST Direct Payment Option/Importer Direct Security Option broker tagged transactions. Importer transactions can never clear against regular broker tagged transactions; and
- The due date and document creation date of the above items is factored in to the CBSA's allocation rules; transactions that are not due may be ignored for allocation purposes.
Account Reconciliation and Payment Allocation
If a payment is made that does not coincide with the amount owing on a customs brokers statement of account (SOA), a Reconciliation Exception Sheet (RES) must be completed. A RES is used to explain the difference between the amount that is due on an SOA and the amount that is paid. It is typically used when a customs broker is short-remitting or overpaying an SOA for a transaction that is corrected post-SOA. A RES is not required when a customs broker pays their SOA amount in full with a single cheque (or single cheque plus interim payments).
In the case of an overpayment, if a RES is not received or does not equal the difference between the total of the amounts owing per the SOA and the payments offered, the payment will be allocated to the amounts owing for each importer according to the distribution on the customs broker's SOA, and will credit the remaining amount to the customs broker's business number (BN9).
In the case of an underpayment if a RES is not received, the interim payments will be credited to the customs broker's BN9 and all importer accounts will remain in unpaid status until instructions are received.
A payment allocation sheet (PAS) must be submitted when using a single cheque to make payments across different importer accounts, without reference to the customs broker's account balance owing. A PAS is typically used when providing payment for a specific item prior to appeal, and/or when a customs broker is submitting a payment on behalf of an importer who imports under the GST Direct Payment Option or the Importer Direct Security Option.
Correction of Payment Information
Clients can submit requests for corrections to payment information, interest or penalties to the ARL Team.
Include your payment details, justifying why the adjustment is required.
The request will be reviewed and, if accepted, the required adjustment will be processed. We will notify you once your request has been received.
If a correction is not processed before the issuance of the SOA, clients must pay the full balance owing on the SOA by the payment due date.
Interest
Interest charges will appear on a client's statement of account in the "Other Transactions" section and will be reflected in the monthly account balance. The importer is liable for all amounts owing until either the importer or their agent submits payment.
Interest is payable to an importer as of the 91st day from the submission of a B2 and ends on the day the Detailed Adjustment Statement is issued.
For additional information on interest, refer to section 52 of Memorandum D17-1-5.
Non-sufficient Funds
If a client submits two dishonoured cheques within a period of six consecutive months, a certified cheque will be required for all future payments.
Importers
If a cheque is returned for non-sufficient funds (NSF), the importer will be charged the NSF fee. This fee will appear under the 'Other Transactions' section on the importer Daily Notices and Statements of Account.
Customs Brokers
NFS fees incurred by a customs broker directly against their broker account are posted against the customs broker's BN9, not against an importer account (BN15).
Such fees do not appear in any of the BN15 sections. Instead, a 'Brokerage' section appears at the top of the customs broker's statement of account and is identified with the customs broker's legal entity name. This section will appear only when an account contains items associated directly with customs broker BN9.
Notice of Arrears
When accounts become in arrears, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) issues a Notice of Arrears (NOA) advising the client that payment is late. Once an NOA has been issued, the account is sent to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for collection purposes.
While payment arrangements are to be made with the CRA, payments must be made directly to the CBSA, either on-line, through EDI or sent to the National Payment Processing Centre.
Please contact the CRA at the number provided on the Notice of Arears.
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