You ordered something from an overseas store — a dress from ASOS, a part from eBay, a gadget from AliExpress — and now UPS, FedEx, or DHL is holding your package hostage over a 'duty and tax' invoice you never expected. You're not alone: documented cases include a $1,243 FedEx invoice on an ASOS clothing haul and a $1,700 DHL bill that was triple the cost of the clothes inside. This happens because the $800 duty-free threshold (the 'de minimis' exemption) is gone — since August 29, 2025, every commercial package entering the US owes duty regardless of value, and CBP made the suspension indefinite in June 2026. The bill is usually legitimate. But not always: in one verified case UPS billed about $1,400 on a package whose correct duty was roughly $110 — and admitted the error. This guide explains every line on the invoice, how to check whether yours is right, and exactly how to dispute it with each carrier.
Why the Bill Exists at All
Until 2025, packages worth $800 or less entered the US duty-free under the de minimis exemption — over 1.36 billion shipments a year rode that rule. It ended in stages: May 2, 2025 for China and Hong Kong, August 29, 2025 for every country, and on June 24, 2026 CBP made the suspension indefinite by regulation (a statutory repeal follows in July 2027). It is not coming back.
Every commercial package now requires a customs entry filed in CBP's system by a qualified party. For courier shipments, that's the carrier's in-house customs brokerage. The carrier advances the duty to CBP so your package keeps moving, then bills you: the duty itself, plus the carrier's own fees for doing the paperwork and fronting the money.
That second part matters. On small orders, the carrier's fees are often bigger than the duty — and the fees are the carrier's revenue, not the government's.
What Each Line on the Invoice Means
Every carrier names its fees differently, but the anatomy is the same (figures from published mid-2026 fee schedules — the carrier's current schedule and your invoice control):
- Duty / import tax — the actual government charge, set by the product's HTS classification, origin country, and current tariff layers. This is the only part CBP receives.
- Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) — a small CBP fee (about $2.69 on informal entries).
- Entry preparation / clearance entry fee — the carrier's charge for filing the customs entry. FedEx: $9.75 (orders up to $200) or $19.50 ($200.01–$800). UPS: roughly $10–$20 by value tier.
- Disbursement / advance payment fee — the carrier's charge for fronting the duty. FedEx: the greater of $15 or 2% of duty and tax. UPS: 3.5% with a $14 minimum, plus a $2.50 processing fee. DHL: typically ~2% with about a $17 minimum.
Example: a $150 apparel order with $18 of duty can arrive with a bill near $50 once entry and disbursement fees stack — a third of it fees, not tax. Run your own numbers in our [personal import duty calculator](/personal-import-duty-calculator).
Step 1: Check Whether the Bill Is Actually Right
Carriers process millions of entries on autopilot, and misclassification is real. In one documented case, UPS billed roughly $1,400 on a package whose correct duty was about $110 — the product was classified under the wrong HTS code — and UPS acknowledged the error when challenged. In another, a $620 bill on a $300 aluminum case was *correct* (a 200% metal tariff applied); the point is you can't tell until you check.
Three things to verify on the invoice or the entry detail (ask the carrier for the entry paperwork if it's not attached):
- Declared value — does it match what you actually paid? Sellers sometimes declare retail value instead of your discounted price, or the carrier keys it wrong.
- HTS classification — the 10-digit code determines the rate. A leather handbag misfiled as a metal article can triple the duty. Look the code up and sanity-check the description.
- Country of origin — the rate depends on where the goods were made, not where they shipped from. A German-made item transiting a UK warehouse should be rated as German (and EU goods run under the 15% deal ceiling).
Also check: did you already pay duties at checkout? Temu and Shein now largely collect duty when you order. If the seller charged you and the carrier bills you again, that's a double charge — dispute it with both.
Step 2: Dispute It With the Carrier
Each carrier has a formal channel, and disputes work best in writing with documentation: your order receipt (proving actual price paid), the product listing (proving what it is), and the invoice.
- UPS: call the number on the brokerage invoice or use the billing dispute option in the UPS Billing Center; ask for the entry to be reviewed/corrected by their brokerage. See our [UPS customs bill guide](/guides/ups-customs-brokerage-fee-dispute).
- FedEx: duty/tax invoice disputes go through FedEx billing support online or by phone; request a post-entry correction if value or classification is wrong. See the [FedEx customs bill guide](/guides/fedex-customs-duty-bill-dispute).
- DHL: dispute through the DHL billing portal or the contact on the duty invoice. See the [DHL customs bill guide](/guides/dhl-customs-duty-bill-dispute).
If the carrier corrects the entry, CBP refunds the overpaid duty through the carrier back to you. The carrier's own brokerage fees are harder — UPS treats its fees as nonrefundable even when the underlying duty comes back — but fee waivers do happen under pressure, and the fee layer is exactly what 17+ consumer class actions against FedEx, UPS, and DHL are now targeting (investigations by firms including Sauder Schelkopf and Chimicles, triggered by the de minimis change, plus a filed case over a DHL fee presented as duty).
The Refund Angle Nobody Tells Consumers About
Here's the part carriers don't advertise. The Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs in February 2026, and CBP is refunding them — $86 billion of the $166 billion pool had been repaid as of July 10, 2026. Packages that cleared customs between August 29, 2025 (de minimis end) and February 24, 2026 paid IEEPA duty that is now refundable.
Consumers can't file refund claims with CBP directly — refunds flow to whoever was the importer of record on the entry, which for courier packages is typically arranged by the carrier's brokerage. That means your refund, if any, comes back through the carrier. FedEx publicly committed to passing refunds through to shippers and consumers; other carriers have been quieter. If you paid a meaningful duty bill in that window, it's worth a written request to the carrier's brokerage asking whether the entry included IEEPA duty and where the refund stands.
And one warning while we're here: there is an active scam wave around 'tariff refunds' and '$2,000 tariff dividend checks' — fake emails, texts, and application sites documented by the IRS, PolitiFact, and the BBB. No consumer tariff dividend has been approved by Congress. Anyone asking for your bank details to 'process your tariff refund' is a scammer. [The real status of the $2,000 check is here](/guides/tariff-dividend-trump-2000-check-explained).
Can I Just Refuse the Package?
You can refuse delivery and decline to pay. What happens next: the package is returned to the sender or, in some cases, destroyed. Your refund of the purchase price then depends entirely on the seller's return policy — many overseas fast-fashion sellers refund slowly, partially, or not at all for refused shipments, and some carriers may still bill return-shipping or fees.
Rules of thumb:
- Bill looks correct and modest → pay it, keep the goods. Refusing usually loses more money than it saves.
- Bill looks wrong → dispute BEFORE refusing. A corrected entry beats an abandoned package.
- Bill exceeds what the goods are worth to you → refusal can be rational, but confirm the seller's refund policy first, in writing.
Going forward, the cheapest fix is prevention: prefer sellers that collect duties at checkout ('delivered duty paid'), and estimate the landed bill before ordering with the [personal import duty calculator](/personal-import-duty-calculator).
Key Takeaway
The customs bill era is permanent — de minimis is not coming back, and every foreign order now lands with duty plus carrier fees attached. The money-saving moves are all about information: know what the bill should be before you buy, verify the classification and declared value when a bill arrives, dispute errors in writing, and ask the carrier about IEEPA refunds on 2025-era entries. And never give payment details to anyone promising a 'tariff dividend check' — that's a scam until Congress says otherwise.
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