CBP Form 6084: CBP's Bill for Money Owed After Liquidation

Key Points

• CBP Form 6084 is CBP's bill form, the mailed demand for money owed to CBP after liquidation, reliquidation at a higher amount, a rate advance or a dishonored payment; it is not a penalty notice.
• The bill goes to the billed party, normally the importer of record, not to the broker who filed the entry, so importers who rely on a broker for mail handling often see the bill late.
• Under 19 CFR 24.3a, interest runs from the bill date when payment is not received by the late payment date shown on the bill.
• CBP published a Federal Register notice on 2021-10-13, Availability of Electronic Viewing of Certain Bills in the Automated Commercial Environment and the Adoption of an Enhanced Bill Format; as of September 2026 the enhanced bill format is in use, and readers should confirm current bill presentation and payment channels with CBP.
• An unpaid CBP Form 6084 bill is ultimately pursued against the surety on the importer's bond, which damages bond capacity well beyond the dollar amount at issue.

On this page

1. What CBP Form 6084 is
2. At a glance
3. What triggers a CBP Form 6084 bill?
4. What information appears on a CBP Form 6084 bill?
5. Who receives and who is responsible for CBP Form 6084?
6. How is a CBP Form 6084 bill viewed and paid?
7. What happens if a CBP Form 6084 bill is not paid?
8. How CBP Form 6084 differs from penalty and other CBP forms
9. Frequently asked questions
10. What importers and brokers should do
11. Key references

The links in this article go to the primary documents: the regulation, the Federal Register notice and the official CBP pages themselves. Read the source.

CBP Form 6084 is CBP's bill form, the mailed statement of money owed to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for supplemental duties, taxes, fees and interest arising after liquidation, reliquidation at a higher amount, a rate advance or a payment that was rejected or dishonored. It is issued by CBP to the billed party, normally the importer of record, and it sits at the back end of the entry lifecycle, after the entry summary has been filed and the entry has liquidated. CBP Form 6084 is a demand for revenue, not a claim for a penalty or liquidated damages.

At a glance

• Full name: CBP Form 6084; the official title is not verified here, and CBP describes the document by function as its bill form.
• Who prepares or uses it: prepared and issued by CBP; received and paid by the billed party, usually the importer of record.
• When in the lifecycle: after liquidation or reliquidation at a higher amount, after a rate advance, or after a payment is dishonored.
• System or channel: mailed to the billed party; certain bills may also be viewed electronically in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) following CBP's 2021-10-13 Federal Register notice.
• Governing authority: 19 CFR 24.3a, which addresses CBP bills and interest running from the bill date.
• Related terms: CBP Form 5955A, Notice of Penalty or Liquidated Damages Incurred and Demand for Payment; CBP Form 400, ACH Debit Application.
• Status as of September 2026: the enhanced bill format adopted by CBP is in use in place of the older 6084 layout; confirm the current format and viewing options with CBP before acting.

What triggers a CBP Form 6084 bill?

A CBP Form 6084 bill is generated by CBP when an entry closes out owing more money than was deposited, or when money already tendered did not actually reach CBP. The common triggers are liquidation or reliquidation at an amount higher than the deposited duties, taxes and fees; a rate advance, where CBP liquidates at a classification, value or duty rate different from the one the filer declared; and a dishonored payment, such as a returned check or a failed electronic debit. In each case the bill is the formal demand that closes the revenue gap.

Importers who have received a CBP Form 6084 after a rate advance should look back at the correspondence that preceded it. A bill following an exam, a request for information or a notice of action is usually the monetary consequence of a decision already communicated. If the underlying classification or valuation position is being contested, the protest and refund mechanics are a separate track from the bill itself, and CBP should be asked how payment interacts with a pending challenge.

What information appears on a CBP Form 6084 bill?

CBP Form 6084 presents the debt as a data matrix rather than a narrative, and reconciling it to the underlying entry is the first task for the receiving compliance team. The fields to locate are the amount broken out by charge type, the billed party, the bill date, the entry date and the port. The bill date matters most operationally, because under 19 CFR 24.3a interest runs from the bill date when payment is not received by the late payment date stated on the bill.

Break the amount out by charge type before paying. A single CBP Form 6084 can combine supplemental duty, taxes, fees and interest, and only a line-by-line comparison against the entry summary shows whether the increase came from a rate change, a value adjustment, a fee recalculation or accrued interest. Where the charge type on the bill cannot be tied to anything on the entry, contact the issuing port listed on the bill.

Who receives and who is responsible for CBP Form 6084?

CBP Form 6084 is mailed to the billed party, which is the importer of record rather than the customs broker who transmitted the entry. This is a persistent source of missed deadlines: brokers often handle day-to-day CBP correspondence, but the bill lands in the importer's mail, sometimes at a corporate address that no one in trade compliance monitors. The importer of record remains legally responsible for the debt regardless of who opens the envelope.

Practical ownership should be assigned in advance. Decide who logs an incoming CBP Form 6084, who reconciles it to the entry, who authorizes payment and who escalates a disputed amount. Importers using a broker for payment should confirm in writing whether the broker is authorized to pay bills addressed to the importer and how funds are advanced.

How is a CBP Form 6084 bill viewed and paid?

CBP Form 6084 has historically been a mailed paper bill, and CBP has since expanded electronic access. In its Federal Register notice of 2021-10-13, Availability of Electronic Viewing of Certain Bills in the Automated Commercial Environment and the Adoption of an Enhanced Bill Format, CBP addressed electronic viewing of certain bills in ACE and adopted an enhanced bill format in place of the prior 6084 layout. As of September 2026 that enhanced format is in use; confirm with CBP which bill types are viewable in ACE for your account and which are still paper only.

For payment, many importers and brokers enroll in CBP's Automated Clearinghouse debit program using CBP Form 400, ACH Debit Application, which allows duties, taxes, fees and bills to be paid electronically. Payment channels and remittance instructions change, so follow the instructions printed on the bill itself and verify current options on CBP's site rather than relying on a past practice.

What happens if a CBP Form 6084 bill is not paid?

An unpaid CBP Form 6084 does not simply age quietly. Interest runs from the bill date under 19 CFR 24.3a when payment is not received by the late payment date, and the debt escalates from there. If the billed party still does not pay, CBP pursues the amount against the surety that wrote the importer's continuous or single transaction bond.

Surety involvement is the outcome importers should work hardest to avoid. A demand on the bond puts the surety on notice that the principal does not pay its customs debts, and sureties respond by requiring collateral, raising premiums or declining to renew. Restoring bond capacity after a surety demand usually costs far more, in time and in terms, than the original bill.

How CBP Form 6084 differs from penalty and other CBP forms

CBP Form 6084 is a revenue bill, and the most important distinction to hold onto is that it is not CBP Form 5955A, Notice of Penalty or Liquidated Damages Incurred and Demand for Payment, which is the Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures notice claiming a penalty or bond liquidated damages. The two arrive by mail, both demand money, and both reference an entry, but they follow different regimes and different response paths. A duty bill is paid or disputed through the revenue and protest channels; a penalty case runs through petition practice, which is covered in our article on CBP Form 5955A. A CBP Form 6084 is also not a broker invoice, even though a broker may pass the amount through to the importer on its own paperwork.

It also helps to place CBP Form 6084 against the declaration and notice forms brokers handle earlier in the lifecycle. CBP Form 4647, Notice to Mark and/or Redeliver, is CBP's notice that articles or containers are not marked with country of origin and orders marking, redelivery, export or destruction under 19 CFR 134.51, which can lead to liquidated damages rather than a duty bill; see our coverage of CBP Form 4647. Free entry and registration documents, including CBP Form 3311, Declaration for Free Entry of Returned American Products, for duty-free return of U.S.-origin goods under HTSUS 9801.00.10; CBP Form 3299, Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles, for personal and household effects arriving separately from the traveler; CBP Form 4455, Certificate of Registration, which registers identifiable goods by serial number or mark before export for duty-free return under Chapter 98; and CBP Form 7523, Entry and Manifest of Merchandise Free of Duty, Carrier's Certificate and Release, for low-value duty-free goods, all sit at entry, and a defect in any of them can surface later as a rate advance and then a CBP Form 6084 bill. On the refund side, CBP Form 7553, Notice of Intent to Export, Destroy or Return Merchandise for Purposes of Drawback, is the notice letting CBP examine goods before export or destruction for a drawback claim, and a rejected drawback claim can likewise produce a bill for money already refunded. Two forms in this cluster have nothing to do with billing at all: CBP Form 3124, Application for Customs Broker License, filed under 19 CFR part 111, and FinCEN Form 105, Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments, filed with CBP for currency movements above the reporting threshold.

Frequently asked questions

Is CBP Form 6084 a penalty?

No. CBP Form 6084 is CBP's bill for money owed, such as supplemental duties, taxes, fees and interest after liquidation or a rejected payment. Penalties and bond liquidated damages are claimed on CBP Form 5955A instead.

Does my broker receive a copy of CBP Form 6084?

CBP Form 6084 is mailed to the billed party, ordinarily the importer of record, not the broker. Importers should not assume their broker has seen the bill and should forward it promptly if the broker is handling reconciliation or payment.

When does interest start on a CBP Form 6084 bill?

Under 19 CFR 24.3a, interest on a CBP Form 6084 bill runs from the bill date if payment is not received by the late payment date shown on the bill. Rates and payment periods change, so confirm the applicable figures on the bill and with CBP.

Can I view a CBP Form 6084 bill in ACE?

CBP's Federal Register notice of 2021-10-13 addressed electronic viewing of certain bills in ACE and adopted an enhanced bill format that replaced the 6084 layout, and that format is in use as of September 2026. Confirm with CBP which of your bills are viewable electronically and which still arrive only by mail.

What happens if a CBP Form 6084 bill goes unpaid?

An unpaid CBP Form 6084 accrues interest from the bill date and is eventually pursued against the surety on the importer's bond. That demand on the surety can restrict or raise the cost of future bond coverage.

What importers and brokers should do

• Designate a monitored mailing address and a named owner for incoming CBP Form 6084 bills, and make sure that address matches the importer of record record on file with CBP.
• Reconcile every CBP Form 6084 line by line against the entry, using the amount by charge type, billed party, bill date, entry date and port fields, before authorizing payment.
• Confirm your electronic payment enrollment, including CBP Form 400, ACH Debit Application, and verify with CBP which bills your account can view in ACE under the enhanced bill format.
• Treat repeated rate advances as a classification or valuation problem, not a billing problem, and fix the underlying entry data so the same bill does not recur.

Key references

• 19 CFR 24.3a: the regulation on CBP bills and interest running from the bill date.
• Federal Register: search the 2021-10-13 notice, Availability of Electronic Viewing of Certain Bills in the Automated Commercial Environment and the Adoption of an Enhanced Bill Format.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection: forms, payment instructions and current ACE bill viewing guidance, including CBP Form 400, ACH Debit Application.
• Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States: the official tariff schedule used to verify the classification behind a rate advance.