How long does a tariff refund actually take?
The honest answer
Most refunds clear within a few months from the day we file. Some clear faster. A small number take longer when the government wants a closer look.
We won't give you a hard date — anyone who promises that is overselling. What we can tell you is what each stage looks like and roughly how it plays out.
The stages
1. Your call to a filed claim — about a week
Once you decide to work with us, we pull your entries, isolate the refundable duties, build the claim, and submit it. This part is on us, and we move fast.
2. Government review — variable
After filing, the government runs an initial review on the claim. Clean claims move forward to the recalculation step. Anything that needs a small fix, we fix on our end so it can keep moving.
3. Recalculation and refund — most of the wait
This is the longest stretch. The government strips the refundable duties from each of your entries, calculates how much they owe you back, adds interest at IRS rates, and sends a single payment to your business.
What can make it faster
- Clean records. If your customs entries don't have prior protests, suspensions, or open audits, the review tends to be quicker.
- A single business identity. If you import under one Importer of Record consistently, we can package everything in one filing.
- Quick responses on your end. If the government comes back with a question (rare, but it happens), we want to be able to respond fast — we'll do the heavy lifting, but sometimes a signature or confirmation from you helps.
What can slow it down
- A compliance review on your past filings. Uncommon, but it can add weeks.
- Suspended or protested entries that need to clear before they can be refunded.
- Anti-dumping or countervailing-duty cases that touch your imports. Those don't qualify and don't get refunded — but if they're entangled with your refundable entries, that can complicate the processing.
We tell you up front if we see any of these in your records. Most importers don't have them.
What it doesn't take
It does not take years. The current refund window has been clearing claims since spring 2026, and the system is well-paced for the volume of importers in line.
It does not require multiple court filings, hearings, or anything resembling a lawsuit. This is an administrative refund.
It does not require you to follow up. We track every claim from filing through payment. If something needs attention, you hear from us.
What the wire looks like
The refund arrives as a single direct-deposit payment to your business bank account. It includes:
- The full refundable tariff amount from your covered entries
- Interest accrued at IRS rates from the day each duty was originally paid
We confirm the moment we see the payment hit, and send you a clean statement showing what was refunded, what the interest came to, and what our fee was. You keep the rest.