How we recovered 84,300 PLN from an incorrect customs invoice
An error on a customs invoice is not the end of the world, but it can freeze cash for many months. In October 2023, the owner of Stal-Met, a company near Białystok, contacted us. Due to a single mistake by a freight forwarder, they overpaid exactly 84,312.40 PLN. We guided them through the complaint process in 47 days, and the money returned to the company's account before Christmas.
An 84-thousand mistake: the CN code that changed everything
It all started with the transport of 14 tons of steel components from Turkey. The forwarder, acting in a hurry, entered a commodity code on the customs declaration suggesting that the elements were finished construction products. This meant a duty rate of 3.7% instead of the 0% that applied to raw castings. Stal-Met paid the invoice because the goods had to hit the production line quickly, but the accountant immediately noticed that the VAT and duty amount was suspiciously high. We speak plainly about the law: if you pay too much, the state will not give it back to you on its own.
When Marcin Kwiatkowski from Business Precision reviewed the documentation on November 3, 2023, he immediately noticed a discrepancy in field 33 of the SAD form. The difference between the rates seems small, but in a transaction worth over 2.2 million PLN, every tenth of a percent is real money. Frankly, the forwarder did not want to admit the mistake, claiming that the customs system itself imposed such a classification. We had to go deeper into the technical specification of the steel to prove that the official and the system were wrong.
One wrong number in field 33 of the SAD form caused the company to pay 84,312.40 PLN too much. That is the cost of two new forklifts.
47 days of paperwork war in Białystok
The process of recovering money from customs is not a sprint. We started by preparing an application to correct the customs declaration to the Head of the Customs and Tax Office in Białystok. Collecting evidence was key: steel chemical composition certificates from the Turkish supplier and a technical opinion from an engineer at the client's plant. The office has its deadlines, and we had to watch every day. We check the paragraphs, you earn – that is our slogan, which in this case meant 6 visits to the office and 12 explanatory letters.
The biggest challenge was changing the interpretation of the goods' intended use. Officials insisted that the castings were already 'processed,' which automatically raised the duty rate. We analyzed 14 similar cases from the last 3 years and presented administrative court rulings that were on our side. On December 18, 2023, we received a decision to refund the overpayment. It was exactly 47 days after sending the first letter. No fluff – it was one of the fastest returns in our history, which dates back to September 2016.
Documents that saved the company budget
Many companies give up at the stage of completing documentation. We focused on precision. We attached scans of original invoices, proof of duty payment, and, most importantly, an updated certificate of origin to the application. In foreign trade, every comma counts. At Business Precision, we know that the official is looking for a reason to reject the application, so we didn't give them any foothold. Our effectiveness in such cases in 2024 is 94.6%.
It was worth it because the money physically hit Stal-Met's account on December 21. The owner admitted that these funds allowed him to pay Christmas bonuses to 28 production employees. This shows that customs law is not just boring paragraphs, but a real impact on the financial liquidity of small and medium-sized businesses. Since 2016, we have already helped 483 companies from the Podlaskie region handle the chaos in export and import papers.
The money refund arrived on December 21. The owner used it to pay bonuses to 28 employees. This is a real result of our work.
How not to overpay on imports in 2025?
One lesson comes from this story: never blindly trust the forwarders' automatic systems. Their job is to push the goods through the port or border, not to optimize your costs. We suggest that every invoice over 45,000 PLN be checked by an independent consultant before paying customs duties. The cost of such verification is a fraction of what can be lost through one error in the CN code. Concrete numbers, not promises – that's how we work in Białystok.
If you have doubts about your customs settlements, start with a simple audit of the last 3 months. We do it in 2 business days. Just send us copies of SAD declarations and invoices from suppliers. It often turns out that companies unknowingly overpay small amounts that add up to significant sums over the year. Our record holder recovered 112,400 PLN this way, the existence of which they had completely forgotten. Remember that you usually have 3 years to complain about incorrect duties, but the faster you act, the easier it is to get evidence.
