Title 19, Customs DutiesRelease 119-110
§1619 Award of Compensation to Informers
Title 19 › CHAPTER 4 — TARIFF ACT OF 1930 › SUBTITLE III — ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › Part V — Enforcement Provisions › § 1619
Summary
The Treasury Secretary can pay a person who is not a U.S. government employee up to 25 percent of what is recovered if that person either finds and seizes a vessel, vehicle, aircraft, goods, or baggage that can be taken under customs or navigation laws and reports it to a customs officer, or gives original information to a U.S. attorney, the Treasury Secretary, or a customs officer about fraud on customs or a customs/navigation law violation that leads to recovering duties, fines, penalties, or forfeited property. If forfeited property is not sold but is destroyed or given to a government agency, a qualifying person can get up to 25 percent of the property’s appraised value. No award can be more than $250,000 for any case. Payments come from money set aside for collecting customs revenue. Money recovered from a bail bond counts like a recovered fine.
Full Legal Text
Title 19, §1619
Customs Duties, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)In general
If—
(1)any person who is not an employee or officer of the United States—
(A)detects and seizes any vessel, vehicle, aircraft, merchandise, or baggage subject to seizure and forfeiture under the customs laws or the navigation laws and reports such detection and seizure to a customs officer, or
(B)furnishes to a United States attorney, the Secretary of the Treasury, or any customs officer original information concerning—
(i)any fraud upon the customs revenue, or
(ii)any violation of the customs laws or the navigation laws which is being, or has been, perpetrated or contemplated by any other person; and
(2)such detection and seizure or such information leads to a recovery of—
(A)any duties withheld, or
(B)any fine, penalty, or forfeiture of property incurred;
the Secretary may award and pay such person an amount that does not exceed 25 percent of the net amount so recovered.
(b)Forfeited property not sold
If—
(1)any vessel, vehicle, aircraft, merchandise, or baggage is forfeited to the United States and is thereafter, in lieu of sale—
(A)destroyed under the customs or navigation laws, or
(B)delivered to any governmental agency for official use, and
(2)any person would be eligible to receive an award under subsection (a) but for the lack of sale of such forfeited property,
the Secretary may award and pay such person an amount that does not exceed 25 percent of the appraised value of such forfeited property.
(c)Dollar limitation
The amount awarded and paid to any person under this section may not exceed $250,000 for any case.
(d)Source of payment
Unless otherwise provided by law, any amount paid under this section shall be paid out of appropriations available for the collection of the customs revenue.
(e)Recovery of bail bond
For purposes of this section, an amount recovered under a bail bond shall be deemed a recovery of a fine incurred.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 619, 42 Stat. 988. That section was superseded by section 619 of act
June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act. Provisions somewhat similar to those in this section, but applicable in part to any officer of the customs or other person, were contained in act
June 22, 1874, ch. 391, § 4, 18 Stat. 186. section 3 of the 1874 act required the Secretary of the Treasury to make suitable compensation in certain cases, as thereinafter provided, made an appropriation and required payments to be reported to Congress. section 6 required claims to compensation to be established to the satisfaction of the court or judge, and required satisfactory proof when the fine, etc., was collected without judicial proceedings. All of these sections were repealed by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 643, 42 Stat. 989. section 2 of the act of
June 22, 1874, ch. 391, repealed all provisions under which moieties of fines, etc., were paid to informers, etc., and required the proceeds of all fines, penalties, and forfeitures to be paid into the Treasury. This last provision was omitted from the Code as superseded by section 527 of this title (act Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2918, § 1, 34 Stat. 1315). section 26 of that Act repealed inconsistent laws and saved existing rights. It was omitted from the Code as temporary and executed. R.S. § 2948, providing that additional duties were not to be deemed fines, etc., for distribution to customs officers, became inoperative by the repeal of all provisions for payment of moieties of fines, etc., to informers or officers, by the act of
June 2, 1874, ch. 391, § 2, and was repealed by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 642, 42 Stat. 989. An appropriation for compensation in lieu of moieties was made by act Mar. 2, 1926, ch. 43, § 1, 44 Stat. 141. Similar appropriations were contained in prior acts.
Amendments
1986—Pub. L. 99–570 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section read as follows: “Any person not an officer of the United States who detects and seizes any vessel, vehicle, aircraft, merchandise, or baggage subject to seizure and forfeiture under the customs laws or the navigation laws, and who reports the same to an officer of the customs, or who furnishes to a United States attorney, to the Secretary of the Treasury, or to any customs officer original information concerning any fraud upon the customs revenue, or a violation of the customs laws or the navigation laws, perpetrated or contemplated, which detection and seizure or information leads to a recovery of any duties withheld, or of any fine, penalty, or forfeiture incurred, may be awarded and paid by the Secretary of the Treasury a compensation of 25 per centum of the net amount recovered, but not to exceed $250,000 in any case, which shall be paid out of any appropriations available for the collection of the revenue from customs. For the purposes of this section an amount recovered under a bail bond shall be deemed a recovery of a fine incurred. If any vessel, vehicle, aircraft, merchandise, or baggage is forfeited to the United States, and is thereafter, in lieu of sale, destroyed under the customs or navigation laws or delivered to any governmental agency for official use, compensation of 25 per centum of the appraised value thereof may be awarded and paid by the Secretary of the Treasury under the provisions of this section, but not to exceed $250,000 in any case. In no event shall the Secretary delegate the authority to pay an award under this section in excess of $10,000 to an official below the level of the Commissioner of Customs.” 1984—Pub. L. 98–573, § 213(a)(15)(A), and Pub. L. 98–473, § 321, inserted reference to aircraft in two places. Pub. L. 98–573, § 213(a)(15)(B), substituted “$250,000” for “$50,000” in two places. Pub. L. 98–473, § 319(a), substituted “$150,000” for “$50,000”. Pub. L. 98–473, § 319(b), inserted “In no event shall the Secretary delegate the authority to pay an award under this section in excess of $10,000 to an official below the level of the Commissioner of Customs.” 1935—Act Aug. 5, 1935, inserted “or the navigation laws” after “customs laws”, and provisions authorizing award of compensation of 25 per centum of the appraised value, but not to exceed $50,000 in any case.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1984 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 98–573 effective Oct. 15, 1984, see section 214(e) of Pub. L. 98–573, set out as a note under section 1304 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
19 U.S.C. § 1619
Title 19, Customs Duties
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110