How Your IEEPA Tariff Refund Actually Gets Paid
The Supreme Court ruled IEEPA tariffs were illegal. CBP opened the CAPE portal. First refunds are being issued via ACH. But before you see a dollar in your account, several things have to happen correctly. Here is exactly how the IEEPA tariff refund payment process works from filing to deposit, sourced directly from CBP documentation.
Your ACH Account: The Step Most People Miss
The most common reason an accepted CAPE Declaration does not result in a payment is a missing or incorrectly configured ACH refund account in ACE. CBP cannot issue paper checks. If your ACH refund account is not registered before your entries reach the disbursement stage, your payment cannot be processed.
The ACH refund account must be registered in the ACH Refund Authorization tab of your Importer sub-account in ACE. It must be a U.S. bank account. It must be separate from any account used to pay duties to CBP. Set this up before you file your CAPE Declaration so the payment pathway is clear from the moment your declaration is accepted.
How do I read the ACH payment detail when my refund arrives?
What if my payment amount seems incorrect?
Can I designate someone else to receive my refund payment?
What happens to my payment if some entries are rejected?
Will I receive one payment or multiple payments?
Three Stages of Your Refund Payment
From ACH account setup to the final deposit, here is exactly what happens at each stage. Sourced from CBP Publication No. 5514-0426.
Set Up Your ACH Refund Account
All IEEPA refunds are paid exclusively via ACH electronic transfer. Before you file a CAPE Declaration, you must have a U.S. bank account registered in the ACH Refund Authorization tab of your Importer sub-account in the ACE Secure Data Portal. This must be a separate account from any ACH account used to pay duties to CBP. Without a registered ACH refund account, CBP cannot issue your payment regardless of whether your declaration is accepted.
How CBP Calculates Your Payment
Once your CAPE Declaration is accepted, CBP removes the IEEPA HTS Chapter 99 codes from your entry summaries and recalculates duties without the IEEPA component. The difference between what you paid and what you actually owed is your principal refund. CBP then calculates statutory interest from your original entry payment date at 7% annually for non-corporations or 6% for corporations, compounded quarterly under 19 U.S.C. 1505 and 26 U.S.C. 6621. Both amounts are included in your ACH payment.
When Your Payment Arrives
After acceptance CBP reliquidates your entries. For unliquidated entries, CBP sets a liquidation date 45 days from acceptance. For already-liquidated entries, reliquidation occurs the next business day after CAPE processing. CAPE processing runs Monday through Thursday. Once reliquidation is complete, refunds are consolidated by Importer of Record and disbursed via ACH. Total time from acceptance to deposit is typically 60 to 90 days.
Everything You Need, For Free
Before you file, use our free tools to confirm your eligibility, estimate your full payment including statutory interest, and get answers to payment questions.
Five Things to Do Before You File
The five steps that determine whether your payment arrives smoothly. ACH enrollment, entry eligibility, file formatting, interest estimation, and Phase 1 exclusion checks. Miss any one of these and your payment gets delayed or lost.
Read the Quick Guide
2. Confirm Entry Eligibility: Only unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within 80 days qualify for Phase 1. Ineligible entries will be rejected and will not be paid.
3. Format Entry Numbers Correctly: All entry numbers must be exactly 11 alphanumeric characters. One formatting error can reject your entire declaration and delay payment.
4. Estimate Your Interest: Statutory interest accrues at 7% annually (non-corp) or 6% (corp) compounded quarterly from your original entry payment date. Calculate this before filing so you know what to expect.
5. Check for Phase 1 Exclusions: Reconciliation entries, drawback entries, AD/CVD entries, and entries not in ACE are excluded from Phase 1 and will not receive payment under your current declaration.
Read the Full Filing Guide
CAPE Pre-Filing Eligibility Screener
Answer 6 questions and get an instant technical readiness assessment covering ACH enrollment, entry eligibility, and Phase 1 exclusions. Confirm your payment pathway is clear before you submit a single file.
Check My EligibilityQuestions About Your IEEPA Refund Payment?
TariffGuru's free AI Recovery Agent can answer questions about payment timing, ACH setup, interest calculations, and what to do if your payment is delayed or incorrect. Trained on CBP source documents. No account required.
Get Free Payment Guidance at TariffGuru.comFederal Statutory Interest Calculator
Calculate your expected payment before it arrives. Principal refund plus compounding statutory interest from your original entry date. Use this to verify your ACH payment is correct when it arrives.
Use the Full Calculator BelowFederal Statutory Interest Calculator: IEEPA Tariff Refund Overpayment Rates
Statutory interest on IEEPA tariff refunds accrues from the date the original duties were paid through the date CBP issues your refund. This is a legal entitlement under federal statute, not an estimate.
The applicable rates, confirmed in Federal Register Vol. 90 No. 186 and Federal Register Document 2026-01175: 7% annually for non-corporate importers, 6% annually for corporate importers, compounded quarterly.
CBP includes both the principal refund and the statutory interest in the same ACH payment. Use this calculator to verify the amount you receive matches what you are owed.
Source: 19 U.S.C. 1505 · 26 U.S.C. 6621 · Federal Register Vol. 90 No. 186 · Federal Register Document 2026-01175 · Revenue Ruling 2025-22
Estimate based on statutory rates per 19 U.S.C. 1505 and 26 U.S.C. 6621, compounded quarterly. Actual amounts depend on entry-level CBP data and the refund process established by the Court of International Trade.
File It Right and Get Paid Faster
A correctly filed declaration gets accepted faster, reliquidates on schedule, and pays out within the 60 to 90 day window. An incorrectly filed declaration resets the clock.
Federal Recovery Toolkit
- Master CAPE CSV template (CBP-compliant, pre-formatted)
- ACE portal data extraction guide
- CBP error dictionary: every rejection code explained
- HTS reference library for IEEPA-subject goods
- USITC duty handbook and HTS classification guide
- Supreme Court ruling analysis (Learning Resources v. Trump)
- Federal Register interest rate documentation
- 12-point pre-submission filing readiness checklist
- Phase 1 exclusion reference guide
Institutional Data Services
- Professional CAPE CSV data formatting at $1 per line
- $1,500 minimum, covers up to 1,500 entry lines
- $4,500 Institutional Data Audit, pre-submission error scan
- PDF Risk Report identifying rejection risks before filing
- Section 301 / IEEPA duty stacking analysis
- AD/CVD suspension review and Phase 2 preparation
- Full concierge with licensed customs practitioners available
Questions About Your IEEPA Refund Payment?
TariffGuru's free AI Recovery Agent can answer questions about payment timing, ACH setup, interest calculations, and what to do if your payment is delayed or incorrect. Trained on CBP source documents. No account required.
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Stay Ahead of the Process
Court-sourced CAPE system analysis. Every article cites its source document.
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