Who is the importer of record on a DDP shipment, and who gets the refund or the bill?

Whose entry is a DDP shipment?

Delivered duty paid is a sales term. It says the seller delivers the goods cleared for import and pays the import duty. It does not say whose name is on the customs entry, and CBP works only from the entry.

19 U.S.C. 1484(a)(2)(B) decides who can make entry as importer of record: "the owner or purchaser of the merchandise or, when appropriately designated by the owner, purchaser, or consignee", a licensed customs broker. A DDP sale can therefore produce three different entries.

The Form 7501 instructions (revision 02/26) define the importer of record in block 30 as "the owner or purchaser of the goods, or when designated by the owner, purchaser, or consignee, a licensed customs broker", and as "the individual or firm liable for payment of all duties and meeting all statutory and regulatory requirements incurred as a result of importation". The second row is the one that surprises buyers: a DDP price does not stop an entry being filed under the buyer's own importer number.

How do you read it on Form 7501?

Five boxes tell you whose entry it is and where money from CBP goes.

The instructions add that "the importer of record shown on the invoice should be the same party on the CBP Form 7501, unless the CBP form reflects a licensed customs broker". On a DDP shipment, compare the importer named on the commercial invoice with block 30. A mismatch is a finding in itself. On entries filed from January 5, 2027, the form also carries a U.S. importer of record declaration (91 FR 69977); a foreign seller in block 30 with that declaration made is a second thing to question.

Ask your forwarder or the seller for the entry summaries. If you are in block 27, your importer number is on the entry, CBP's ACE records list it under your account, and the liability is yours whatever the invoice price included.

Who gets refunds and who owes underpayments?

Both follow the entry, not the contract.

• Duty liability. 19 CFR 141.1(b)(1) makes the liability for duties, "both regular and additional", a personal debt of the importer, and "payment to a broker covering duties does not relieve the importer of liability if the duties are not paid by the broker".
• Refunds. 19 CFR 24.36(b) certifies refunds to "the importer of record", with exceptions: if an owner's declaration has been duly filed, to "the actual owner who executed the declaration". Under 24.36(a), a CBP Form 4811 can authorize someone else to receive refunds, and a refund goes to an attorney under a power of attorney if requested.
• Owner's declaration. 19 U.S.C. 1485(d) lets an importer of record that is not the actual owner shed liability for additional or increased duties if it declares that at entry, names the owner and produces the owner's declaration within 90 days of entry; "such owner shall possess all the rights of an importer of record". 19 CFR 141.20 adds that a nonresident owner's declaration is not accepted unless a bond with a resident corporate surety is filed.
• Protest standing. 19 U.S.C. 1514(c)(2) lets "the importers or consignees shown on the entry papers", "any person paying any charge or exaction" and their authorized agents protest. A buyer shown as consignee may have standing to protest a liquidation on the seller's entry; confirm it before relying on it.
• Penalties. 19 U.S.C. 1592(a)(1) reaches any "person" who by fraud, gross negligence or negligence enters or introduces merchandise by a material false statement or omission, and 1592(d) requires lost duties to be restored. The importer of record is the first party CBP looks to; a buyer that controlled the documents is not outside 1592's reach because the seller filed.

What does this look like on one DDP line?

A US retailer buys cotton knit T-shirts of China (subheading 6109.10.00) DDP its warehouse from a Hong Kong trading company, invoice $20,000 for the goods with duty and US delivery shown separately. The trading company's broker enters them for consumption on November 10, 2026 with the trading company in block 30 and the retailer in block 29.

The correct duty is 16.5% general, plus 7.5% under heading 9903.88.15 (Section 301, China) and 12.5% under heading 9903.05.31 (Section 301 forced labor, entries from July 24, 2026, 91 FR 47318): $7,300 on a $20,000 entered value. The derivation is in how to find the duty on an HTS code. The broker reported 9903.88.15 but not 9903.05.31, so the entry deposited $4,800.

Turn it round. Had the broker charged a heading that did not apply, the refund at liquidation would go to the trading company or its Form 4811 party, not to the retailer that paid a duty-inclusive price. Whether that money comes back to the retailer depends on the sales contract and on the seller still being there.

Two value points sit alongside. The $20,000 is the right entered value only because duty and US delivery were identified separately: 19 U.S.C. 1401a(b)(3) excludes them from transaction value on that condition, and Incoterms and customs value covers the deduction. And if the retailer itself were in block 30, every line of this table would be the retailer's.

What changes for foreign importers of record from January 5, 2027?

CBP's interim final rule "Heightened Requirements for Foreign Importers of Record" (91 FR 69977, November 6, 2026, CBP Dec. 26-19) takes effect January 5, 2027. It matters to DDP sellers that act as nonresident importers of record.

• A U.S. importer of record under new 19 CFR 110.2(a) is either an individual who is a US citizen or lawful permanent resident, or an entity organized under US law and located in the United States that keeps either at least 51 percent US-citizen or permanent-resident beneficial owners with control, or direct ownership of a significant amount of unencumbered US real property. CBP may verify it against factors such as principal place of business, US assets and capitalization (110.2(b)). Any other importer of record is a foreign importer of record (110.3).
• Under new 141.21, a foreign importer of record may not enter goods for consumption, on a formal entry or an informal entry filed on CBP Form 3461 or 7501, unless it is CTPAT-validated, or it designates a licensed customs broker that is CTPAT-validated. That broker must act as importer of record itself if the principal on the power of attorney is not the owner or purchaser.
• Under new 141.22, U.S. importer of record status is declared at entry and entry summary. CBP has added a checkbox to Forms 3461 and 7501 (a Yes or No in the electronic filing) that must be used from January 5, 2027; a blank means the importer of record is foreign. Brokers must verify a client's status before declaring it (111.29(a)(2)) and keep the verification records for five years (111.23(b)), with full broker compliance by May 6, 2027.
• An inaccurate U.S. importer of record declaration can lead CBP to require entry summaries at the time of entry and to discontinue immediate delivery (amended 142.13 and 142.25).

These sit on top of the older rules for nonresidents: a nonresident consignee may make entry with a resident corporate surety on its bond (19 CFR 141.17), and a nonresident corporation may not enter goods for consumption without a resident agent authorized to accept service of process in the state of the port and a resident corporate surety (141.18).

What should a DDP buyer check on its own entries?

1. Get the entry summaries. A DDP buyer often has none. Ask the seller or its forwarder for the 7501 for each shipment, or check ACE under your own importer number for entries filed in your name.
2. Read blocks 26 to 30. If your number is in block 27, the entry is yours: audit it like any other entry, including the Chapter 99 lines.
3. Match the invoice importer to block 30. A difference is a finding unless block 30 shows a licensed broker.
4. Check who receives refunds. Block 28 and any Form 4811 decide where CBP sends money. Make sure a refund on your entry is not routed to a party you have no claim against.
5. Put refunds and underpayments in the contract. Who keeps a refund, who pays a liquidation bill and who files a protest are commercial terms. Write them down while the seller is still a counterparty.
6. From January 5, 2027, ask your seller whether it qualifies as a U.S. importer of record or, if foreign, how it meets new 141.21.

The post-entry audit guide covers checking each line, the broker invoice page covers duty billed to you on entries you did not pay CBP for, and recovering overpaid duty the refund routes. TariffSense reads entry summaries and flags lines where the importer of record differs from the invoice importer, where a refund party sits in block 28, and where the duty stack on a DDP entry falls short of the measures in force on its entry date. The audit page explains how to run it. Contract and liability questions on DDP terms are for customs counsel or a licensed broker.