Recover the Duties You've Already Paid - Without Risk
Hundreds of millions recovered. Where applicable an eligible refund is protected by binding rulings. You pay only after the government confirms your money is coming back.
The Problem Most Importers Don't Know They Have
“Best Practices mandate a reliable, unbiased review of systems and processes to ensure trade compliance is always maintained. The broker’s responsibility is to clear shipments as quickly and compliantly as possible, however there’s limited time to proactively minimize duty costs. Leveraging an independent 3rd party, specializing in achieving these goals, can have a significant impact to drive better profitability for your organization. A building materials and home supplies retailer learned this firsthand. They engaged their customs broker to review their entries for recovery opportunities. The result: less than $100,000 in identified refunds. They were skeptical when they engaged Dominion Customs Solutions for a second opinion but agreed to give us a chance.
Within six months we identified over $1,000,000 in duty recoveries. Within 18 months, the total had grown to more than $3,500,000, thirty-five times what their broker had found reviewing the same records. The same review surfaced future-import savings projected at more than double that amount.
Why Independent Recovery Works Better
We are not a customs broker. We have no personal stake in defending the classifications and valuations declared on your past imports. Besides this structural independence, our 285 years of combined customs experience is why we consistently find recoveries that broker-affiliated reviews miss.
Our team analyzes millions of lines of trade data every year using advanced analytics that flag classification anomalies, valuation discrepancies, missed Free Trade Agreement claims, GST and excise tax errors, and dozens of other recovery patterns built up over 44 years in operation. We then add a layer of human analysis, leveraging the team’s collective 325+ years of customs experience to take a deeper dive where today’s technology just cannot replace.
How the Program Works
We review your import history at no out-of-pocket cost to you. Typical review periods cover the past four years, the maximum refund period.*
We log every recovery opportunity, validate it against current legislation, and our existing comprehensive confidential database of rulings and where applicable, file a binding ruling with CBSA to protect both the refund and your future imports.
We submit the refund claim, manage all communication with CBSA, and respond to any government queries on your behalf.
You receive your refund directly from the government. We invoice only after CBSA has provided written confirmation that the refund has been approved.
We review your import history at no out-of-pocket cost to you. Typical review periods cover the past four years, the maximum CBSA reassessment window. *
We identify every recovery opportunity, validate it against current legislation, and our existing comprehensive confidential database of rulings and where applicable, file a binding ruling with CBSA to protect both the refund and your future imports.
We submit the refund claim, manage all communication with CBSA, and respond to any government queries on your behalf.
You receive your refund directly from the government. We invoice only after CBSA has provided written confirmation that the refund has been approved.
* This period will vary based on the Customs Administration associated with your imports.
Strategic Pillars & Opportunities
What This Looks Like Operationally
The program is designed to operate independently of your team. The only impact on your staff is a monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly status update meeting at a frequency you choose. Our interactive reporting portal lets you monitor the progress of every recovery opportunity in real time, ask questions when it suits your schedule, and provide direction without booking a meeting.
We can run the program across multiple business divisions, multiple countries, and multiple legal entities under a single engagement, with separate customized reporting for each.
The Dominion Customs Solutions Commitment
We will be transparent about every refund opportunity we find, file rulings where applicable to protect your recovery from future reassessment, and only invoice after the government has confirmed your refund. If we do not find a recovery, you owe us nothing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Each Customs Administration sets their own legislative time limits, however In Canada, the regulations permit duty recovery claims going back four years from the date of accounting. Our standard review covers that full window.
We work on a pure contingency basis: a percentage of the refunds we recover. There are no retainers, hourly fees, or out-of-pocket costs. If we do not recover anything, you don't pay anything. Our fee percentage is set during the engagement letter and applies only to confirmed refunds.
That's exactly the situation in the case study above, a broker review found less than $100,000; our independent review found $3.5 million in the same data set. We frequently re-review records that brokers have already examined and find substantial additional recoveries.
Minimal. The program is designed to operate independently. The only standing commitment is a recurring status update meeting (monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly, you choose). Most clients spend less than two hours per month on the program.