CAPE Refund Not Received: Why Your Payment Didn't Arrive and What to Do
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TL;DR — If your refund date passed and nothing arrived, start with REV-613 in ACE. If you show up there, your ACH is rejected and the money is waiting to be claimed once you fix your bank enrollment. If you're not in REV-613, check whether timing is the issue or whether CBP applied an offset before paying.
The three reasons your refund didn't arrive
A refund date showing in ES-003 means CBP issued payment — not that money is in your account. Between issuance and receipt, three things can stop payment:
1. ACH rejected. Your bank account information in ACE is missing, outdated, or set up in the wrong place. CBP attempted the transfer, it bounced, and the money is now sitting in a hold. This is the most common reason.
2. Offset applied. CBP netted an outstanding debt against your refund before it left the door. You received less than expected, or nothing at all if the debt exceeded the refund. No advance notice is given.
3. Timing. The refund hasn't actually processed yet. Unliquidated entries take longer than already-liquidated ones, and the 60-90 day payment window runs from acceptance, not from your Refund Date appearing in ES-003.
The first step is figuring out which category you're in.
Step 1: Pull REV-613 in ACE
REV-613 is the ACH Rejected Refunds report. Per CBP's official CAPE documentation, it "highlights any refunds that have been rejected due to the recipient not being enrolled in ACH Refunds."
In ACE Portal, navigate to Reports → Standard Reports → find REV-613. If your IOR appears in this report, CBP tried to pay you and the ACH transfer failed. The money is in a hold — not lost — waiting for you to fix the enrollment and notify CBP.
If you're not in REV-613, move to the next step.
Step 2: Check REV-615 and REV-603
REV-615 (Trade CAPE Detail Refund Report) tracks the processing status of your CAPE declaration. Open it and look for the status of your accepted entries. If they're showing "refund issued" or similar, CBP has paid — and the issue is either the ACH rejection (go back to REV-613) or an offset.
REV-603 (Trade Refund Report) shows successful ACH payments. If your refund appears here with a payment date, the money left CBP. If it left CBP but didn't arrive in your account, the issue is on the banking side — wrong account number, closed account, or the refund was deposited to an account you're not actively monitoring.
Step 3: Understand the most common ACH problem
The single most frequent reason for no payment is a setup error that's easy to miss: ACH for duty payments is not the same as ACH for refunds.
CBP requires a separate enrollment specifically for receiving refunds. Even if you've been paying IEEPA duties via ACH for years, and even if you have ACH configured in your ACE account for outgoing duty payments, you may not have the refund-specific enrollment set up. Troutman Pepper described this in their CAPE guidance: "ACH refund enrollment must be completed in ACE for a refund-specific bank account; having ACH set up only for duty payments is not sufficient."
To add or update ACH refund information: log into ACE Portal → Accounts → Importer sub-account → ACH Refund Authorization tab. This is separate from general ACH payment settings. CBP stopped issuing paper checks entirely on February 6, 2026, so if this tab isn't configured, there is no fallback.
Once you update the bank information, CBP holds the payment and waits. You then need to notify CBP to re-initiate the transfer. CBP refers to this process as "Replacement Refund Instructions" — contact IEEPARefunds@cbp.dhs.gov with your CAPE claim number and confirm you've updated ACH enrollment.
Step 4: Check for an offset
If REV-603 shows payment was issued but the amount is lower than you expected, or no payment appears at all, CBP may have applied the offset provision. Under CAPE's terms, CBP nets any outstanding customs debts — unpaid duties, bonds, penalties — against your refund before disbursement. No advance notice is required, and no notification is sent when an offset occurs.
To check for outstanding debts in ACE, navigate to your Importer account and look for open duty bills, penalty notices, or bond claims. If you find an unpaid obligation that approximately matches the missing amount, that's the likely explanation.
If you believe the offset was applied incorrectly — for example, against a debt you're actively disputing — consult a licensed trade attorney. Neville Peterson flagged this specifically: CBP has not clarified whether it will apply offsets against debts that are themselves under protest or litigation. Importers with open disputes should review this before assuming an offset is final.
Step 5: Rule out timing
If REV-613 is clear, REV-615 shows your entries are still in process, and no offset is visible, the refund likely hasn't been issued yet. Two situations where timing is the explanation:
Unliquidated entries still waiting to liquidate. CBP targets liquidation within 45 days of acceptance for unliquidated entries. If your entries accepted in late April, they may not liquidate until mid-June. The refund follows liquidation. A Refund Date showing in ES-003 for an unliquidated entry is an estimate, not a confirmed payment date.
Still inside the 60-90 day payment window. The window runs from acceptance, not from when you uploaded the file. If your declaration accepted in early May after validation, 60-90 days puts the earliest likely payment date in early July. The Refund Date field in ES-003 reflects when CBP expects to pay — but "expects" is not a guarantee, and the window can shift if compliance review occurs.
See When Will I Get My Refund? for the full timeline breakdown.
Quick reference: which report tells you what
| Report | Where to find it | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| REV-613 | ACE → Reports → Standard Reports | ACH transfers that failed — your refund is in a hold |
| REV-603 | ACE → Reports → Standard Reports | Successful ACH payments CBP issued |
| REV-615 | ACE → Reports → Standard Reports | CAPE processing status per entry |
| ES-003 | ACE → Reports → Folders → Trade → Importer → Entry Summary | Refund Date and Refund Amount per entry |
Contacts for follow-up
ACH and refund payment issues: IEEPARefunds@cbp.dhs.gov — include your CAPE claim number and a brief description of the issue.
General IEEPA refund questions: traderelations@cbp.dhs.gov
ACE technical issues: ACE Account Service Desk (ASD) at 866-530-4172 or ace.support@cbp.dhs.gov
Frequently asked questions
My refund date in ES-003 was May 5 but nothing came. Where is the money? Start with REV-613. If you appear there, your ACH rejected and the money is in a hold — fix your ACH Refund Authorization in the Importer sub-account, then email IEEPARefunds@cbp.dhs.gov with your claim number. If you're not in REV-613, check REV-615 to see if payment was actually issued, or whether it's still processing.
I have ACH set up for duty payments. Isn't that the same? No. CBP requires a separate enrollment for receiving refunds. The ACH Refund Authorization tab in your Importer sub-account is distinct from general ACH payment configuration. Many importers who've paid duties via ACH for years never set up the refund-specific enrollment. Log into your Importer sub-account and check that tab explicitly.
CBP held my refund. Does it expire or disappear? No. Per CBP's official FAQ: "CBP will hold the refund until the ACH account information is available." The money doesn't disappear — it waits. Fix your ACH enrollment and notify CBP to re-initiate the transfer.
My refund was less than I calculated. Why? Two main reasons. First, CBP may have applied the offset provision — any outstanding customs debts are netted against the refund before payment without advance notice. Second, a rate period issue may have changed the refund calculation (9903.01.63 at 125% only ran April 10 to May 13, 2025; entries near those dates may have had different IEEPA rates than assumed). Check for open CBP obligations and verify entry dates for anything filed near those rate change boundaries.
REV-613 shows my refund rejected. What exactly happens next? Log into your Importer sub-account → ACH Refund Authorization tab → confirm or update your US bank account information. Once updated, email IEEPARefunds@cbp.dhs.gov with your CAPE claim number and tell them you've corrected the enrollment. CBP will re-initiate the transfer. There is no penalty for fixing this after the fact — the funds remain in hold until the account is corrected.
My refund date passed but REV-615 still shows processing. Is something wrong? Not necessarily. For unliquidated entries, the Refund Date in ES-003 is an estimate based on expected liquidation and the 60-90 day window. If your entries haven't reached their 45-day liquidation target yet, the Refund Date may shift. Monitor REV-615 for status changes. If entries show accepted status but no refund has issued after 90 days from acceptance, email IEEPARefunds@cbp.dhs.gov.
Can I change which bank account receives my refund after filing? Yes — update the ACH Refund Authorization tab in your Importer sub-account before payment issues. Once a payment clears to the account on file, it cannot be redirected. If you're trying to change a Form 4811 designee's bank information, the designee must update their own ACE account.