We do not file refunds. Only you, or the licensed customs broker that filed your entries, can file a CAPE Declaration in ACE. CBP charges no fee. Not a government website; not affiliated with CBP. CBP says: "Do not enter any information into a website other than ACE that claims to process IEEPA refunds." (CSMS 68569567). Official CBP information: www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/trade-remedies/ieepa-duty-refunds

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How long do tariff refunds take? The CAPE timeline from declaration to ACH deposit

CBP says 60–90 days from an accepted CAPE declaration. What happens in each step, what delays refunds (missing ACH details, offsets, rejections), and what CBP's own numbers show.

Published Sep 16, 2026

Page updated Oct 10, 2026

The steps and their clocks

  1. Declaration filed in the ACE CAPE tab (CSV of entry numbers). Validation runs on each entry: status, IEEPA line present, no open protest, not finally liquidated. Entries that fail are rejected individually; the rest are accepted.
  2. Liquidation. Unliquidated entries are set to liquidate 45 days after the declaration is accepted. Already-liquidated entries (within 80 days) reliquidate the next business day.
  3. Refund certified. CBP recalculates the duties without the IEEPA Chapter 99 lines, adds interest from the deposit date, and certifies the refund to the Treasury.
  4. ACH payment to the importer of record or its Form 4811 designee. CBP's stated expectation: valid refunds "generally issued within 60–90 days" of acceptance.

What CBP's own numbers show

As of Accepted in CAPE Sent to Treasury Note
Jul 10, 2026 $121.75 billion $86.3 billion CIT order of Jul 15 (verified); 9,837 refunds held for missing ACH
Jul 31, 2026 $128.68 billion ≈$100 billion CBP declaration of Aug 4 (reported; read September 16, 2026, not re-read since)
Aug 21, 2026 $132.5 billion $106.6 billion CBP declaration of Aug 25 (reported); 272,029 declarations; 22,170 refunds ($1.7 billion) unsent for missing ACH
Sep 11, 2026 about $134.7 billion about $122 billion certified (including interest) CBP declaration of Sep 15 (reported); 286,044 declarations (201,293 passing validation); 20,184 refunds (about $1.3 billion) on hold for missing ACH

Roughly 80% of the accepted money had been paid within four months of the process opening. The gap is mostly entries still inside their 45-day liquidation clock and refunds held for ACH details.

What slows a refund

  • No ACH details on file. The single largest cause in CBP's reports. Fix it in ACE before filing.
  • Offsets. CBP may apply the refund against other amounts the importer owes (allowed by the CIT's April 14, 2026 order).
  • Rejections. Entries under an open protest, warehouse entries (types 21/22 since July 7, 2026), entries without an IEEPA line, or finally liquidated entries are dropped from the declaration; they need a different route.
  • Reconciliation entries waited for Phase 2 (June 29, 2026).
  • Finally liquidated entries wait for a court order and Phase 3 (set to deploy October 6, 2026, as reported; CBP's IEEPA refunds page does not say that it is live, read October 8, 2026).

For entries that are not in CAPE

Protests, § 1581(i) suits and reliquidation orders run on court and CBP timetables, not the 60–90-day CAPE clock. The eligibility checker tells you which route each entry is on; the deadlines guide has the windows.

General information from public sources, not legal advice. Checked October 8, 2026; the July 31 figures were last read September 16, 2026.

Sources

  1. CBP CSMS 68340863 — CAPE timing (45-day liquidation, 60–90 days) — checked Oct 8, 2026
  2. CBP — IEEPA duty refunds hub page (last modified Sep 30, 2026) — checked Oct 8, 2026
  3. CBP CSMS 68536553 — ACE reports for monitoring CAPE claims — checked Oct 8, 2026
  4. CIT order of Jul 15, 2026 (refund totals as of Jul 10) — checked Oct 8, 2026
  5. GHY — CBP CAPE refund progress (Sep 11 figures from CBP's Sep 15 declaration; updated Oct 5, 2026; reported) — checked Oct 8, 2026
  6. C.H. Robinson — CAPE Phase 3 set for Oct 6, 2026 (Sep 17, 2026; reports CBP's Sep 15 declaration) — checked Oct 8, 2026

Frequently asked questions

›How do I see where my declaration is?

CBP provides ACE reports for monitoring CAPE claims (CSMS 68536553): declaration status, entry-level acceptance, liquidation and refund status. Your broker can run them if they filed.

›Why was my refund smaller than expected?

CBP can offset IEEPA refunds against other duties, taxes or fees the importer owes; the CIT's April 14, 2026 order allows it. Rejected entries (wrong status, open protest, no IEEPA line) are also dropped from the declaration.

›Why has nothing arrived after 90 days?

The most common reason in CBP's figures is missing ACH refund details — 20,184 refunds worth about $1.3 billion were on hold for that reason as of September 11, 2026 (CBP declaration of September 15, reported). Check the ACH Refund Authorization tab in ACE.

This site provides general information from public sources, not legal, tax or customs advice.