Action Required: Update ACE Portal for Refunds by Feb 6, 2026

Don’t Miss Out On Future Refunds! 

As you know from previous communications we’ve sent since November 2025, US Customs will cease issuing refunds through paper checks beginning February 6, 2026. The process is outlined here, but starting February 6th, ALL REFUNDS for any reason (administrative refunds, refunds due from post summary corrections, refunds due from protests, etc) will ONLY be issued directly into the bank account that you have designated in your ACE Portal Account. Per CBP, there are no exceptions.

If you do not set up your ACE Portal Account for refunds before February 6, 2026, you will not receive any future refunds from CBP.

With that in mind, if you have not already done so, all importers should do the following ASAP:

FOREIGN IMPORTERS OR IMPORTERS WITHOUT A US BANK ACCOUNT

• Please contact your Taggart sales or operations representative to assist you with the special requirements for foreign importers acting as the importer of record, or those with no US bank account, which involves completing a CBP Form 4811 to allow a special designation. We will assist you with this process. We do also still strongly recommend getting an ACE Portal Account using the application and process outlined below.

US IMPORTERS

• Get an ACE Portal Account (if you do not already have one).

• Apply Online: Use this link to access the ACE Account Application.

• Make sure your CF5106 record is up-to-date and confirm the email address associated with it. This must be current in order to receive the validation emails that will be sent when registering for an account.

For current Taggart/CTS clients, if you do not know what email address is linked with your account, you may use this link to provide us with the information needed to update it on your behalf:

CF5106 Email Designation Request

• Your Importer Record Number (IR#) is your company’s EIN. Please be sure to use the correct required format as shown on the application: NN-NNNNNNNXX (and 00 for the “XX” if necessary).

• The ACE Application Form is both case-sensitive and punctuation-sensitive.

For example, a company with a legal name of Imports R Us, LLC must be entered exactly as shown. Any variation, such as Imports R Us LLC or IMPORTS R US, LLC will cause an error message.

• Once your ACE account is active, follow CBP’s instructions to add the Importer Sub-account View to your portal.
• Once your ACE account has the Importer Sub-Account View added, follow CBP’s instructions to Manage ACH Refund Information with the ACH Refund Authorization tab.
• Read the Trade Information Notice: Review the Automation of the ACE Portal Account Application Process for Importers for detailed information.
• Review the CBP Training Guide: Access the Automated ACE Portal Account CBP Training Guide training guide for assistance.

We also want to reiterate that the established method for the routine remittance of duties via ACH and using your PUN is an entirely separate and distinct process that has absolutely no connection to the new requirement of having an ACE Portal Account with a banking account linked to it for refunds. In other words, this is completely unrelated to how you pay your duties to US Customs. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you do not establish an ACE Portal Account and set up your banking information for electronic refunds before February 6, 2026, you will not receive any future refunds from CBP. No exceptions. If you are due a refund from US Customs and they attempt to send a refund that cannot be delivered for any reason (you do not have bank account information in your ACE account, you have incorrect banking information, etc) the refund will be reverted back to CBP and held until this has been done. Such refunds in a rejected status will also stop accruing interest, and CBP will not send a notification that a refund was returned. It is the responsibility of each importer to manage and track their refunds using the refund authorization tab in the ACE Portal.

Fortunately, CBP has provided detailed instructions, which have all been linked above and on our previous communications over the past few months. And while we can’t complete this on your behalf, we’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have