Harbor Maintenance Tax Refund

The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 created the Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF), also known as the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT). The HMF required U.S. port and harbor users to share in port and harbor maintenance costs. In 1994, the Court of International Trade (CIT) found that the HMF as imposed on exports violated the Constitution’s Export Clause. In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court also found that the HMF as imposed on exports was unconstitutional (U.S. v. U.S. Shoe Corp.). The Court ordered Customs to stop collecting the HMF on exports and to refund the HMF that had already been paid. In 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals declared that there was no time limitation for filing a refund request from Customs (Swisher Int’l. v. U.S.). However, in 2001, the Treasury declared that refund requests more than a year old must have been filed by December 31, 2001. We assisted several potential claimants in filing refund requests. After 9-11, Customs slowed down the processing of refund requests and we began a Grass Roots Campaign, which involved writing letters to Congressional representatives nationwide. Soon after that Customs hired more personnel to process the claims.

<< Back to Case List

Testimonials