In 2016, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) implemented the Accounts Receivable Ledger (ARL) as Phase One of its Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) project.
As part of this initiative, the CBSA will change its refund process, effective August 01, 2016.
Under the ARL, the daily and monthly account statements (K84) have been replaced with Daily Notices (DN), which contain transactional details, and the Statement of Account (SOA), which provides an overall summary of the duties and taxes.
What does this mean to you, as an importer?
Currently, the CBSA will process B2 adjustments for refunds and issue a check.
As of August 1st, the CBSA will offset the refund amount and apply it against any outstanding balance associated with your business number (BN15).
What about residual credit amounts?
A residual credit is the balance that’s left over after the CBSA has applied the credit offset to the amount owed to the Receiver General for Canada.
If, after the credit offset has been applied, there’s a credit balance over $1,000, the CBSA will issue a check to the importer. If the residual credit is under $1,000 then the balance will remain on the account and will roll over to the next month, to be applied against amounts owed to the Receiver General. Where there is a residual credit for two consecutive months, the credit amount will be disbursed to the importer,
What action do you need to take?
Importers will need to adjust their business process and modify their financial reconciliation to account for the credit offset.
If you do not hold your own account security number, you can get a copy of your statement balance at an ARL-designated office.
List of ARL-supported offices
The following are ARL payment processing sites:
- Atlantic Region
Halifax Commercial, NS
Woodstock Travellers, NB - Quebec Region
Montreal Longroom, QC
ET Air Commercial, QC
Stanstead Route 55, QC
St. Bernard de Lacolle, QC - Northern Ontario
Ottawa Cargo Service Air, ON
- Southern Ontario
Ambassador Bridge Commercial, ON
Blue Water BridgeCommercial, ON
Fort Erie Commercial, ON - Greater Toronto Region
Barrie, ON
Hamilton Commercial, ON
Interport Sufferance Warehouse, ON
Lester B. Pearson International Airport (LBPIA) Commercial, ON
Toronto Main, ON - Prairie Region
Calgary Air Commercial, AB
North Portal Travellers, SK
Winnipeg Longroom, MB - Pacific Region
Pacific Highway Commercial, BC
Vancouver Commercial Operations West Marine, BC
Vancouver Air Cargo, BC
For a complete list of offices supporting the ARL, please visit the CBSA website. You can visit these locations to obtain a paper copy of your statement or to inquire about your account balance.