- 1The CIT ordered refunds of IEEPA tariffs, about $166B in total; $55B tied to 236,000+ small businesses.
- 2CBP expects 60-90 days to process a claim once filed.
- 3Tariff Recovery Group can buy claims for cash and pays brokers commissions on referrals.
Importers that paid tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act are due refunds, and one company is building a business around helping them collect, or cash out, faster.
The ruling and the refund order
On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump Administration could not impose tariffs on imported goods under IEEPA. The President moved to enforce tariffs on a different legal basis, leaving open what would happen to the billions already collected. According to Aharon Margolin, CEO and founder of Tariff Recovery Group, the matter went to the Court of International Trade, which decided on March 4 that all importers would be refunded.
Margolin put the total at about $166 billion, with $55 billion tied to more than 236,000 small businesses. Customs and Border Protection has opened a portal for refund filings and announced that the first refund would be issued on May 11. CBP generally expects 60 to 90 days from the time a claim is filed.
Risks of waiting
Small businesses have heard fast promises before, Margolin noted, citing the Employee Retention Credit, which ended up taking far longer than expected. The administration could also appeal the CIT order and potentially stay the refund process. A prolonged delay might cause claims to be denied if businesses miss normal deadlines to protest tariffs. Margolin said many merchants, especially those turning to alternative funding, may not know they are owed money.
Cash upfront and the broker angle
Tariff Recovery Group assesses how much a business is owed, supplies deadlines and instructions for filing, and, for urgent needs, can negotiate an upfront cash payment for the claim. "We're able to liquidate that claim for money upfront," Margolin said, adding that it depends on the nature of the claim.
The company is also courting brokers and others who normally pitch loans or MCAs. Brokers can earn a commission for referring a business through assessment and filing, and another if the owner sells the claim. Margolin said many applicants had cited tariffs as a supply-chain disruption driving demand for working capital. Details are on the Tariff Recovery Group site.
There's a real service that you could be offering them, they could be getting real money back.
How the process works
Margolin said many business owners do not know exactly how much they paid in IEEPA tariffs. Tariff Recovery Group therefore starts by reviewing a business's full import history and, if the business is eligible, hands over the materials, deadlines and instructions needed to file a claim. The owner can stop there and treat it as a standalone filing service, or go a step further and sell the refund claim to the company for cash.
Margolin said the easiest cash flow fix is simply to collect the refund owed, but that route carries the 60 to 90 day wait in the best case and an unknowable delay in the worst. He framed the concern as money left on the table if a small business paid these tariffs and never recovers them.
The pitch to brokers rests on that gap. Because many applicants cited tariffs as a drag on their supply chains before the ruling, a broker's client base may already include businesses with refund claims they have not pursued.
Source reporting: deBanked.
