How to File a CAPE Declaration for IEEPA Tariff Refund

TL;DR – A CAPE Declaration is a CSV file containing your eligible entry numbers, uploaded through ACE Portal. CBP processes it and issues refunds for IEEPA duties. You need your ES-003 report and active ACH enrollment before you file. The CSV format is one column – Entry Number – nothing else. Audit your entries before submitting: once accepted, a PSC cannot be filed on those entries.

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What Is a CAPE Declaration?

CAPE – Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries – is CBP's batch refund tool built into ACE Portal. It launched on April 20, 2026. Instead of protesting entries one by one, you upload a single CSV with all your eligible entry numbers and CBP processes the refunds in bulk.

A CAPE Declaration is not a form you fill out manually. It's a structured CSV file you generate from your ES-003 data and upload directly to ACE Portal. The Pre-CAPE Audit tool audits your ES-003 before you file — flagging entries that CAPE will reject or permanently block — then generates the CAPE-ready CSV for your clean entries.

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Before You File

Two things must be in place before you submit:

Your ES-003 report with liquidation fields. You need Entry Number, Liquidation Status, and Liquidation Date for each entry to know which ones are Phase 1-eligible. If you haven't pulled your ES-003 yet, start with the ES-003 Guide.

ACH enrollment in ACE Portal. This is the bank account where CBP sends your refund electronically. If it's not set up when your refund processes, the payment will be rejected. As of early April 2026, only about 6% of importers – roughly 21,000 out of 330,000 affected – had completed ACH enrollment, meaning most eligible importers are at risk of a rejected payment even after a successful CAPE filing. Set this up first. See ACE Portal Setup Guide for the exact steps.

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Audit Your Entries Before Submitting

This step is critical and easy to skip. Once a CAPE Declaration is accepted by CBP, Post Summary Corrections (PSCs) are blocked on every entry in that Declaration until the entry liquidates. This is enforced by CSMS #68397097 (Error Code 864: "PSC NOT ALLOWED – REFUND REQUESTED").

The lock applies to the entire entry – not just the IEEPA lines. If you discover a classification error, a valuation issue, or any other duty problem after submitting to CAPE, you cannot file a PSC to fix it. You'll need to wait until the entry liquidates and pursue a protest if applicable.

Before submitting your Declaration:

• Verify classification is correct on your key entries
• Confirm duty amounts match what you expect
• Check that Form 4811 is set up if your broker will receive the refund – you cannot add 4811 after submission

If you're unsure about any entries, consider auditing them with your broker before filing. The downside of filing a clean Declaration two weeks later is minimal compared to locking yourself out of corrections.

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Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1 – Log In to ACE Portal

Go to ace.cbp.dhs.gov and sign in with your importer credentials. Clear your browser cache if your session has expired. If you encounter a login error, see ACE Portal Setup Guide for troubleshooting.

Step 2 – Find the CAPE Tab

Inside ACE Portal, navigate to your Importer sub-account view. The CAPE tab became available on April 20, 2026. If you don't see it, confirm you're navigating under the correct Importer sub-account inside ACE Portal.

Step 3 – Build Your CSV File

Create a plain CSV file with a single column containing your entry numbers – one entry number per row. Keep the file simple – entry numbers only. Avoid adding extra columns or metadata.

Step 4 – Upload the CSV

Inside the CAPE tab, select "Create New CAPE Declaration" and upload your CSV file. The system will begin validation.

If you see a JMS processing error or the CAPE tab shows a "high volumes" message, wait 30–60 minutes and try again. These are server load issues, not problems with your file. See CAPE Error Codes Guide for a full explanation of every error you might encounter.

Step 5 – Submit

Review the Declaration summary and submit. Once submitted, the Declaration cannot be edited. If you realize you missed entries, you'll need to create a second Declaration for those.

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The CSV Format – One Column Only

The CAPE Declaration CSV has a strict format: one column, Entry Number, one entry per row.

Key rules:

Filer code in the entry number. Entry numbers in CBP format include the filer code of whoever originally filed the entry. Use the filer code of the broker or entity that filed the original entry summary – not your own filer code if someone else filed on your behalf.

Maximum 9,999 entries per Declaration. If you have more, split into multiple Declarations.

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What Entries to Include

You have two options: pre-filter your entries before uploading, or upload everything and let CAPE decide.

Both approaches work. According to CSMS #68340863, CAPE performs secondary validation on every uploaded Declaration and automatically removes any entries that don't qualify for Phase 1. Ineligible entries are rejected with a reason code – the rest of the Declaration proceeds normally.

CBP expects approximately 63% of entries with IEEPA duties to qualify for Phase 1. The remaining 37% fall into other tracks – primarily entries liquidated more than 80 days ago.

What is excluded from Phase 1:

• Reconciliation entries (type 09)
• Drawback entries (type 47)
• AD/CVD entries – IEEPA codes will be removed but the refund is frozen pending Department of Commerce instructions
• Entries liquidated more than 80 days ago
• Temporary importation under bond (type 23)
• Section 122 entries (9903.03.xx codes) – these are not IEEPA and will be rejected

Warehouse entries (type 08) are included in Phase 1, but with a difference: the refund is issued after the entry liquidates in the normal course, not on the standard 60–90 day CAPE timeline. If your entries include warehouse entries, expect a longer wait on those specific refunds.

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After You Submit

You cannot edit a submitted Declaration. If you need to add entries you missed, create a new Declaration. There's no penalty for filing multiple Declarations.

One entry can only appear in one Declaration. If the same entry number appears in two different Declarations, the second submission will be rejected with an error. Don't try to refile an entry that's already in a pending Declaration.

Monitor your refund status with the REV-615 report. This is a dedicated ACE report for tracking CAPE refund status. Run it periodically after submission to see where your Declaration stands. If payments are being rejected due to missing ACH enrollment, you'll see those in the REV-613 report instead.

Two timelines, not one. After your Declaration is accepted, unliquidated entries will be liquidated within 45 days. Your refund payment arrives within 60–90 days. These are separate clocks. See What Is Liquidation for a full explanation of the difference.

Some entries may be rejected even if they appear eligible. Based on first-day CAPE experience, certain entries return an "Unable to Calculate Duty" error during processing even though they appear fully eligible in the ES-003 – unliquidated, IEEPA codes present, no open PSCs or protests. This is a known CAPE edge case that CBP has not yet documented. Your final CAPE count after CBP validation may be lower than the count in your ES-003. If you see this error, contact IEEPARefunds@cbp.dhs.gov or ACE Support at 866-530-4172 option 1.

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Broker vs. Self-Filing

Self-filing is technically straightforward – you need an ACE Portal importer account, an ES-003 report, and a one-column CSV. The Pre-CAPE Audit tool audits your entries for errors before you file and generates the CAPE-ready CSV automatically — so you can skip the manual Excel step and catch problems before they become permanent. If you're comfortable with ACE Portal and have your data ready, there's no technical reason you can't file yourself.

Based on broker forum discussions in April 2026, most brokers are pushing importers to file CAPE themselves – in part because liability exposure is significant if something goes wrong on an entry that's now locked against PSC corrections. Brokers are still handling protests and auditing, but many are declining to take responsibility for the CAPE filing itself.

Using a broker makes sense if you don't have ACE access, have a large volume of entries, or need an audit completed before filing. A broker can file a single Declaration on behalf of multiple importers – up to 9,999 entries across different IORs in one file.

Market rates for CAPE filing from broker forums as of April 2026: approximately $150–$200 per entry, flat fees from $1,500 for smaller accounts, or 3–6% of the refund amount as a success fee. If a broker is quoting you more than 6%, compare against other options before committing.

If your broker will be receiving the refund on your behalf, they'll need a CBP Form 4811 on file designating them as the notify party for the payment. This must be set up before you submit your CAPE Declaration – it cannot be added afterward.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I amend a CAPE Declaration after submitting? No. Once submitted, a Declaration cannot be modified. If you need to add entries you missed, create a new Declaration with those entry numbers.

What if the same entry appears in two Declarations? The second Declaration will be rejected for that entry. Only the first-submitted Declaration will be processed for that entry number.

What filer code goes in the entry number? The filer code of whoever filed the original entry summary – the broker or entity that originally submitted the entry to CBP. If you filed it yourself, use your own filer code. If a broker filed it, use theirs.

Are warehouse entries eligible for Phase 1? Yes, but with a caveat. Warehouse entries are accepted in Phase 1, but your refund will be issued after the entry liquidates through normal CBP processing – not on the standard 60–90 day CAPE timeline. Expect a longer wait on those specific refunds.

Can I file a PSC on an entry after submitting it to CAPE? No. Once a CAPE Declaration is accepted for an entry, CBP blocks all PSC filings on that entry (Error Code 864) until the entry liquidates. This applies to the entire entry, not just the IEEPA lines. Audit your entries before filing.

How do I check the status of my refund? Use the REV-615 report in ACE Portal – it's specifically built to track CAPE Declaration status and refund processing. If your ACH payment was rejected, check the REV-613 report.

I got an error during upload but a claim number appeared in the Claims tab – did it go through? Yes. If a claim number appears in the Claims tab, your Declaration was accepted. The upload error was a UI timeout – the processing pipeline and the browser interface are separate. Download the Claim Details file from the Claims tab to see the status of each entry.