Duty Drawback for Small Business Finally Made Simple

Duty drawback is a U.S. government program administered by Customs and Border Protection that refunds up to 99% of import duties when the imported goods are later exported, used in manufacturing for export, or destroyed. Small businesses can qualify if they import goods and meet one of those conditions. There is no minimum revenue requirement to file a drawback claim, and Zollback is specifically designed to serve businesses under $50M in revenue that legacy providers typically turn away.

Historically, yes — the complexity of matching import and export records across different HTS codes and accounting methods made drawback impractical without a specialist. That barrier is exactly why an estimated 80% of eligible refunds go unclaimed nationally. Platforms like Zollback automate the matching, document parsing, and CBP filing process, making duty drawback practically accessible for small businesses without dedicated trade compliance staff.

There are several drawback types a small business may qualify for: manufacturing drawback (imported raw materials used to produce finished goods that are exported), unused merchandise drawback (imported goods re-exported in the same condition), rejected merchandise drawback (defective or non-conforming imported goods returned to the supplier), and destroyed goods drawback (imported goods destroyed under CBP supervision). Each type has specific eligibility requirements, and an automated assessment can quickly determine which categories apply to your operation.

Zollback operates on performance-based pricing with no upfront fees. There is no cost to assess your eligibility or begin the process. Zollback only takes a percentage of the refund actually recovered, meaning you only pay when money hits your account. For small businesses where budget risk is a concern, this model eliminates the financial barrier that has historically made drawback impractical at smaller scale.

Traditional drawback providers using manual workflows typically take 9–12 months to process a claim. Zollback's end-to-end automation compresses that timeline to 10–15 working days for claim preparation and filing. The actual refund timeline is subject to CBP processing, but automated filing accelerates the entire cycle significantly compared to the industry standard.

The core documents required for a duty drawback claim are import records (customs entry summaries, commercial invoices), proof of export or destruction (bills of lading, export declarations, destruction certificates), and in some cases proof of manufacturing transformation. Zollback's AI can ingest these documents in any format — PDF, CSV, or ERP export — and structure the data automatically, eliminating the burden of manual organization for small business teams.