CBP Form 400: ACH Debit Application for Duty Payments

Key Points

• CBP Form 400, ACH Debit Application, enrolls an importer of record or a broker as a payer in CBP's Automated Clearinghouse debit program so duties, taxes, fees and bills are paid electronically rather than by check.
• The current revision referenced here is CBP Form 400 (rev 05/25), and the Automated Clearinghouse forms were covered in a Federal Register notice dated 2024-08-12 addressing CBP Form 400 and CBP Form 401.
• CBP returns a payer unit number after enrollment, and the ABI filer places that number on statements so periodic and daily statements settle by ACH debit.
• A change of bank account requires a new CBP Form 400; stale bank data, unsigned forms and statements transmitted before enrollment is active cause rejected debits and late-payment liquidated damages.
• CBP Form 400 is a payment enrollment document, not a broker license application and not the ACH credit form; as of September 2026 confirm the current revision and submission channel with the CBP Revenue Division before filing.

On this page

1. What CBP Form 400 is
2. At a glance
3. Who prepares and signs CBP Form 400?
4. How is CBP Form 400 submitted and what comes back?
5. Where does CBP Form 400 sit in the payment lifecycle?
6. Common CBP Form 400 problems and what they cost
7. How CBP Form 400 relates to other CBP forms
8. Frequently asked questions
9. What importers and brokers should do
10. Key references

CBP Form 400, ACH Debit Application, is the enrollment form an importer of record or a customs broker files to become a payer in CBP's Automated Clearinghouse debit program, allowing duties, taxes, fees and CBP bills to be paid electronically by debit against a designated bank account. It is completed with the payer's bank account data, signed by an authorizing company official, and submitted to the CBP Revenue Division ACH coordinator, which returns a payer unit number used on ACE statements. CBP Form 400 sits upstream of every entry summary payment: it is not an entry document and not a broker license application.

The links in this article go to the primary documents: the Federal Register notice, the CBP form page and the official CBP guidance themselves. Read the source. This entry is current as of September 2026.

At a glance

• Full name: CBP Form 400, ACH Debit Application (rev 05/25).
• Who prepares or uses it: the importer of record or the customs broker acting as payer, signed by an authorizing company official.
• When in the lifecycle: before any statement or bill is scheduled for electronic payment, and again whenever the bank account changes.
• System or channel: submitted to the CBP Revenue Division ACH coordinator by fax, mail or email; the resulting payer unit number is used by the ABI filer in ACE statement processing.
• Governing authority: CBP Revenue Division, Automated Clearinghouse program; see the Federal Register notice of 2024-08-12 covering CBP Form 400 and CBP Form 401.
• Payment method enrolled: ACH debit, in which CBP pulls funds from the payer's account; ACH credit, in which the payer pushes funds, uses a different application.
• Related terms: CBP Form 6084 (CBP's bill form), CBP Form 5955A (penalty and liquidated damages notice), CBP Form 3124 (Application for Customs Broker License, a different form entirely).

Who prepares and signs CBP Form 400?

CBP Form 400 is prepared by the party that will actually be debited, which is either the importer of record paying its own duties or the customs broker paying on behalf of clients from a broker-operated account. The form asks for the payer's identity and the bank routing and account information that CBP will debit, and it must be signed by a company official with authority to commit the organization's funds. In practice that means the finance or treasury side of the business has to be involved alongside the trade compliance team, because compliance staff rarely have signature authority over banking instructions.

A broker filing CBP Form 400 for its own account is enrolling as a payer, nothing more. CBP Form 400 does not create, renew or evidence a customs broker license; that is CBP Form 3124, Application for Customs Broker License, the application an individual, partnership, association or corporation files with CBP to obtain a customs broker license. Confusing the two wastes weeks, because the office that handles broker licensing is not the office that handles ACH enrollment.

How is CBP Form 400 submitted and what comes back?

CBP Form 400 is submitted to the CBP Revenue Division ACH coordinator by fax, mail or email rather than through an ABI transmission, because it carries bank credentials and a wet or authorized signature rather than entry data. Once CBP processes the application, it issues the payer a payer unit number. That number is the operative output of the whole exercise: the ABI filer places it on statements so that periodic and daily statements settle by ACH debit against the enrolled account.

Until the payer unit number is issued and active in CBP's systems, statements referencing it will not settle. Do not assume enrollment is live because the form was sent. This article does not state processing times; confirm the current status of an application directly with the CBP Revenue Division ACH coordinator, and confirm the current submission address or mailbox on the CBP form page before sending bank data anywhere.

ACH debit versus ACH credit

CBP Form 400 enrolls a payer for ACH debit, meaning CBP originates the transaction and pulls the funds on the scheduled date. ACH credit works the opposite way: the payer instructs its own bank to push the funds to CBP, and enrollment for that method uses CBP Form 401 rather than CBP Form 400. Both forms were addressed together in the Federal Register notice of 2024-08-12 concerning the Automated Clearinghouse, CBP Form 400 and CBP Form 401. Organizations sometimes maintain both methods for different payment types; decide deliberately which method each account uses, because the reconciliation and cutoff behaviors differ.

Where does CBP Form 400 sit in the payment lifecycle?

CBP Form 400 sits at the front of the payment lifecycle, before the first statement is ever scheduled, and it stays relevant for as long as the payer keeps paying CBP electronically. Entry summaries are filed and placed on a daily or periodic statement; the statement carries the payer unit number produced by CBP Form 400; on the scheduled date CBP debits the enrolled account. The same enrollment supports payment of CBP bills, including amounts demanded on CBP Form 6084, CBP's bill form, which is the mailed bill for money owed to CBP such as supplemental duties, taxes, fees or interest after liquidation or a rejected payment. Our companion entry on CBP Form 6084 walks through how those bills arise.

Because CBP Form 400 governs where the money comes from rather than what is owed, it is easy for it to fall out of maintenance. Bank consolidations, account closures, treasury reorganizations and acquisitions all break an ACH debit enrollment silently. A change of bank requires a new CBP Form 400; there is no informal way to update the account.

Common CBP Form 400 problems and what they cost

The failure modes of CBP Form 400 are boring, repetitive, and expensive. The recurring ones are:

• Stale bank data. The account on file was closed or renumbered and nobody filed a new CBP Form 400. The debit rejects.
• Unsigned or improperly signed forms. CBP Form 400 requires signature by an authorizing company official; a form signed by someone without that authority is not a valid enrollment.
• Statements transmitted before enrollment is active. The ABI filer puts a payer unit number on a statement that CBP's systems do not yet recognize as live, and the statement does not settle.
• Rejected debits. Insufficient funds, a debit block at the bank, or a mismatched account produce a returned item that leaves the duty unpaid on its due date.

A rejected debit is treated as nonpayment, not as a clerical hiccup. Late payment exposes the importer and the surety to late-payment liquidated damages, which arrive as CBP Form 5955A, Notice of Penalty or Liquidated Damages Incurred and Demand for Payment, the Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures notice claiming a penalty or bond liquidated damages. Our entry on CBP Form 5955A explains how those claims are handled. The unpaid duty itself typically resurfaces as a bill. One overlooked bank change can therefore generate both a bill and a liquidated damages claim on the same entries.

A practical control is to tell the treasury group that a debit block or filter on the CBP account must be updated whenever the bank changes originator screening rules, and to have someone in compliance confirm that statements actually settled rather than assuming silence means success.

How CBP Form 400 relates to other CBP forms

CBP Form 400 is a money form, which distinguishes it from nearly every other numbered CBP document a broker touches. It has no relationship to merchandise declarations such as CBP Form 3311, Declaration for Free Entry of Returned American Products, the declaration for duty-free return of U.S.-origin goods, or CBP Form 3299, Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles, the declaration for personal and household effects arriving separately from the traveler. Likewise it has nothing to do with CBP Form 4455, Certificate of Registration, which registers identifiable goods with CBP before export for duty-free return under Chapter 98, or with CBP Form 7523, Entry and Manifest of Merchandise Free of Duty, Carrier's Certificate and Release, the paper entry for low-value duty-free goods.

Where CBP Form 400 does connect indirectly is anywhere money moves. Drawback refunds follow claims supported by CBP Form 7553, Notice of Intent to Export, Destroy or Return Merchandise for Purposes of Drawback, the notice letting CBP examine goods before export or destruction for a drawback claim; refund enrollment, however, is handled separately from CBP Form 400, so do not assume an ACH debit enrollment sets up refunds. Marking enforcement runs through CBP Form 4647, Notice to Mark and/or Redeliver, CBP's notice that articles or containers are not marked with country of origin, ordering marking, redelivery, export or destruction, and a failure there can end in a liquidated damages demand that the payer then settles using the ACH debit enrollment created by CBP Form 400. And CBP Form 400 has no connection at all to FinCEN Form 105, Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments, the report filed with CBP when currency or monetary instruments above the reporting threshold are carried, shipped or mailed into or out of the United States; that form concerns physical currency movement, not electronic duty payment.

Frequently asked questions

Does CBP Form 400 give me a customs broker license?

No. CBP Form 400 is the ACH Debit Application and enrolls a payer in CBP's Automated Clearinghouse debit program only. A customs broker license is applied for on CBP Form 3124, Application for Customs Broker License, a separate filing handled by a separate CBP office.

What happens if my bank account changes after I file CBP Form 400?

A change of bank requires a new CBP Form 400. There is no email amendment or phone update that substitutes for the form, and leaving stale bank data on file is the single most common cause of rejected debits and the late-payment liquidated damages that follow.

Can I use CBP Form 400 to pay a CBP bill as well as statements?

Yes. The ACH debit enrollment created by CBP Form 400 covers duties, taxes, fees and bills, including amounts demanded on CBP Form 6084. Confirm with the CBP Revenue Division how a specific bill should be referenced when paying.

Is CBP Form 400 the same as the ACH credit application?

No. CBP Form 400 covers ACH debit, where CBP pulls the funds. ACH credit, where the payer pushes funds to CBP, uses CBP Form 401. Both were addressed in the Federal Register notice of 2024-08-12 on the Automated Clearinghouse, CBP Form 400 and CBP Form 401.

What importers and brokers should do

• Verify that the bank account on file for your CBP Form 400 enrollment is still open and correct, and file a new CBP Form 400 immediately if anything about the account has changed.
• Confirm the payer unit number in use by your ABI filer matches the one CBP issued, and do not let statements be transmitted against an enrollment that is not confirmed active.
• Ask treasury to whitelist CBP as an ACH originator and to alert trade compliance the same day any debit is returned, so a rejected payment is cured before a liquidated damages claim issues.
• Download the current revision of CBP Form 400 from the CBP forms page each time you file rather than reusing a saved PDF, and confirm the current Revenue Division submission channel before transmitting bank data.

Key references

• CBP forms library (cbp.gov): source for the current revision of CBP Form 400, ACH Debit Application (rev 05/25), and CBP Form 401.
• Federal Register notice of 2024-08-12, Automated Clearinghouse, CBP Form 400, 401: the information collection notice covering both ACH debit and ACH credit applications.
• CBP Automated Clearinghouse program page (cbp.gov): CBP's own description of ACH debit and ACH credit payment for duties, taxes, fees and bills.
• CBP Form 6084: CBP's Bill for Money Owed After Liquidation: how CBP bills arise and how they are paid.
• CBP Form 5955A: Penalty and Liquidated Damages Notices: what a late-payment liquidated damages claim looks like and how it is handled.