On March 27, 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the timeframe for payment of duties and taxes owing on imports into Canada has been delayed to June 30, 2020. This delay in the requirement to pay duties and taxes owing on imports is also extended to any re-assessments, penalties or other amounts owing to the CBSA. This order includes all charges that are on the March statement of account and are coming due on April 1, 2020.
This change is on top of the announcement from the CBSA, dated March 19, 2020 which gave importers relief from late accounting penalties through extending the period to account for imported goods from 5 days to 45 days. On May 15, 2020, the CBSA has released a subsequent memo informing importers that the CBSA will not be waiving penalties for late accounting after May 26, 2020. Therefore, even though no payment of duties and taxes are due until June 30, 2020, importers are still required to account for goods within the prescribed timeframes within the Accounting for Imported Goods and Payment of Duties Regulations.
Additional information can be found at the following:
