Could you get back the money you’ve paid in tariffs over the past year? There’s a new bill in Congress called the Payback Act that might get citizens a refund, but the issue is complicated.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down most of the import taxes that President Donald Trump had implemented on Feb. 20. They specified that the way the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act was used was an overreach of presidential power, but there are other ways for the president to affect tariffs and international trade.
Trump has since said he’ll add a new, 15% global tariff that Congress would have to approve past 150 days.
But what happens with the money already collected?
The U.S. reportedly collected “$253.3 billion from all tariffs, taxes, and fees” between Jan. 20, 2025 and Jan. 31, 2026, according to the newest information from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
And a report from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation determined that American households had paid about $1,000 on average. (They estimated another $1,300 would be paid in 2026, but that was before the Supreme Court Decision and tariff changes.)
Most of that was paid by businesses that imported the goods and passed that money on to consumers. Here’s what we know about the argument over tariff refunds, what that might look like for your wallet.
Who paid US tariffs?
Companies directly paid the tariff costs to the U.S. government. Some of that was absorbed by wholesalers, retailers, exporters and importers. But costs were also passed along to shoppers through increased prices.
“Consumers have no legal claim to a refund, because they weren’t the importers,” Stephen Kates, financial analyst at Bankrate, told USA TODAY. “They just bought the products.”
Many tariff experts agree that individuals can’t plan to get that money back.
Companies want tariff refunds
Trump has said that tariff refunds weren’t demanded by the Supreme Court, and the issues will likely be tied up in court for years.
Companies are already moving to start the battle. FedEx filed a lawsuit on Feb. 23 that seeks a refund of what it paid.
But there’s a paper trail to work from to determine who paid what.
It gets harder to tell which individual shoppers might qualify for small refunds from big box retailers like Walmart or Costco.
Retailers might offer some kind of rebate program, but it’s not a guarantee.
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Democrats argue money should go to people
Across the nation, Democrats, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have demanded refunds for taxpayers.
The Joint Economic Committee – Minority, a Congressional committee made of Democrats, estimated that families have paid more like $1,700 in tariffs.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker sent the Trump administration an invoice for $1,700 per family in his state.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) introduced a new proposal called the Payback Act this week.
“These illegal tariffs drove up costs for American families. If Americans were forced to pay higher prices because of executive overreach, then Americans deserve to be paid back. It’s that simple,” she said in a news release.
How much could you get if the Payback Act passes?
The amount isn’t laid out in the proposed legislation.
The bill would require the U.S. Treasury to make a formula to determine how much consumers should get back.
The formula should:
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Use federal data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Economic Analysis and other relevant sources
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Estimate the pass-through rate from “importers, distributors, and retailers to end consumers”
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Include “equitable adjustments abased on household income and geographic disparities”
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When could you get a tariff check?
The bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this week and referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. There’s no current timeline on when or if Congress will take up the issue, but it would likely be a minimum of at least six months after the bill passes before we know how much Americans could get.
Trump pitched a $2,000 tariff rebate check last fall. In January, he said he could get it done without Congressional approval, but several analysts said the potential cost exceeded the total tariffs collected. The issue hasn’t been addressed since the Supreme Court decision.
As of late February, the odds that refunds will trickle down to shoppers are slim.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted that the funds aren’t likely to reach consumers in recent comments: “I got a feeling the American people won’t see it,” he said.
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Daniel de Visé
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with USA TODAY Network. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Will the Payback Act get you money? What we know about tariff refunds
