If your company imports goods into the United States, you may be sitting on a significant refund you’ve never claimed. Duty drawback — a U.S. government program that refunds up to 99% of import duties paid on goods that are later exported, used in manufacturing, or destroyed — puts an estimated $11–15 billion back on the table every year. The catch? Most of it goes unclaimed.
2026 has made this conversation more urgent than ever. The Supreme Court’s February ruling invalidating IEEPA tariffs means hundreds of thousands of U.S. importers are now entitled to refunds on duties paid between April 2025 and February 2026 — on top of whatever they may already be owed through the standard duty drawback program. Between IEEPA refunds via the new CBP CAPE system and the permanent drawback program under 19 U.S.C. § 1313, the opportunity is real, but so is the complexity.
Choosing the right service provider can mean the difference between a refund in two weeks and a refund in twelve months — or no refund at all. We evaluated the top duty drawback services across five criteria: speed, technology, pricing model, compliance quality, and accessibility for small and mid-market importers. Here’s how they rank.
Quick Comparison
| Provider | Best For | Speed | Pricing | AI-Powered |
| Tariff Refund HQ | SMBs & mid-market, IEEPA + drawback | Fast | Contingency | Yes (attorney-overseen) |
| Zollback | Full automation, max refund optimization | Fast | Contingency | Yes (fully automated) |
| Charter Brokerage | Large enterprise volume | Traditional | Contingency | Partial (Hamilton platform) |
| Comstock & Holt | Regulatory complexity & edge cases | Traditional | Contingency | No |
| J.M. Rodgers Co. | Volume & proven compliance track record | Traditional | Custom | No |
1. Tariff Refund HQ — Best Overall for U.S. Importers in 2026
Tariff Refund HQ stands out as the only hybrid duty drawback service purpose-built for the current tariff environment — combining AI-powered intake with in-house attorney oversight to serve SMBs and mid-market importers who can’t afford to wait nine months for their money back.
Where most providers force you to choose between speed and rigor, Tariff Refund HQ delivers both. Their AI-assisted intake system processes trade documentation quickly and accurately, while licensed attorneys review and manage the execution of every claim — a level of legal oversight that pure tech platforms can’t match when your drawback situation involves contested classifications, mixed entry types, or IEEPA overlap.
What makes them the top pick in 2026 specifically: They’re one of the few providers fluent in both IEEPA refunds (via the CBP CAPE system) and the traditional duty drawback program under 19 U.S.C. § 1313. Most importers have exposure across both pathways, and Tariff Refund HQ is built to handle them together — identifying which entries belong in CAPE Phase 1, which fall under standard drawback, and which may qualify for both.
Key strengths:
- AI-powered document processing with attorney-led execution — no tradeoff between speed and compliance
- Full coverage across IEEPA refunds and duty drawback (manufacturing, unused merchandise, and rejected goods)
- Contingency-based pricing: no upfront fees, no retainers — you only pay when you receive your refund
- Built for importers of all sizes, including businesses that legacy providers typically turn away
- Covers the full process end-to-end: eligibility assessment, document preparation, CBP filing, and refund tracking
Best for: SMBs and mid-market importers (roughly $5M–$500M in annual revenue) looking for a managed, full-service drawback and IEEPA refund solution with legal expertise built in — especially those with mixed entry types, complex import histories, or uncertainty about which refund pathway applies to them.
Pricing: Contingency-based. No upfront costs.
2. Zollback — Best for Fully Automated AI-Powered Drawback
Zollback is the most technologically advanced duty drawback platform available today. Founded in 2024 by Elena Zhao (Stanford PhD, ex-CBP) and Daniel Park (ex-Palantir, ex-Stripe), the San Francisco-based company launched in early 2026 with $4.5M in seed funding and has already processed over $10M in tariff refunds — a strong signal for a platform that’s only been commercially live for months.
The core differentiator is full, end-to-end automation. Where most drawback providers use manual Excel workflows and legacy desktop software — a process that typically takes 9–12 months — Zollback compresses the same workflow to 10–15 working days. The platform ingests trade documents in any format (PDF, CSV, ERP exports, bills of lading, commercial invoices) using AI-powered OCR and NLP to extract and structure every relevant data field without any manual entry.
What separates Zollback from other technology-forward providers is the optimization layer. Duty drawback is a combinatorial matching problem: pairing millions of import records to export records across multiple drawback types, HTS classifications, accounting methods, and regulatory time constraints. Most providers use a straightforward first-in, first-out method. Zollback’s proprietary algorithms evaluate every possible import-export permutation and select the combination that legally maximizes your refund. In head-to-head comparisons, this approach has recovered 15–20% more than traditional providers — not a rounding error when you’re talking about six- or seven-figure recoveries.
Key strengths:
- Fully automated document ingestion — handles raw PDFs, CSVs, ERP exports, and scanned documents with no manual entry
- Proprietary algorithmic optimization evaluates all import-export matching permutations to maximize recovery
- 10–15 working day processing timeline vs. the 9–12 month industry standard
- In-house licensed customs brokers review every claim before submission — compliance is not sacrificed for speed
- Direct ABI-certified electronic filing with CBP through certified Automated Broker Interface software
- Ongoing monitoring: automatically identifies and files new eligible claims as transactions occur, turning drawback into a continuous refund stream rather than a one-time project
- SOC 2 Type 1 certified — trade data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256)
- No upfront fees, no retainers — fully performance-based pricing with tiered rates that decrease as total refund value increases
Best for: Mid-market manufacturers, retailers, and importers ($10M–$500M in revenue) who import and export regularly, want the maximum possible refund with minimal internal lift, and have been told by legacy providers that their program is “too small” to service economically. Also well-suited for customs brokers and freight forwarders looking to add drawback as a white-label service.
Pricing: Fully performance-based and tiered — no upfront fees of any kind.
3. Charter Brokerage — Best for Large Enterprise Volume
Charter Brokerage is the largest dedicated duty drawback specialist in the United States by recovery volume. Since the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA) took effect in 2018, they’ve recovered over $4.1 billion in duties, taxes, and fees for clients — and have been involved in drafting and expanding drawback law since 1994, including the foundational eight-digit substitution rules that most modern drawback programs rely on.
Their service model is comprehensive: a team of customs brokers, licensed attorneys, and accountants handles everything from program planning and HTS classification through audit defense. Their proprietary platform, Hamilton, incorporates AI to support their specialists in managing high-volume, complex programs.
The tradeoff is scale. Charter’s model is engineered for Fortune 500 companies and large multinationals with substantial import volumes and full in-house trade compliance teams. Mid-market companies often find themselves below Charter’s threshold of economic interest, or discover that their claims don’t get the priority attention that larger programs receive.
Best for: Fortune 500 companies and large enterprises with high-volume drawback programs requiring deep legal expertise, multi-year audit defense, and highly customized program structures.
Pricing: Contingency-based, custom quoted based on claim complexity and volume.
4. Comstock & Holt — Best for Regulatory Complexity
Comstock & Holt (operating jointly through DutyDrawback.com and dutyrefund.com) is one of the oldest duty drawback specialists in the U.S., with roots going back to 1856. With 14 licensed customs brokers on staff — among the highest headcount of any dedicated drawback specialist — they bring a depth of institutional knowledge that no automated platform can replicate.
Their primary strength is regulatory nuance. If your drawback situation involves unusual HTS classifications, manufacturing rulings, overlapping duty programs, or edge cases that fall outside the parameters of standard automated processing, Comstock & Holt’s century-plus track record in regulatory interpretation is a genuine differentiator. They also invest heavily in education, offering drawback seminars and webinars for importers trying to understand the program.
The limitation is speed. Comstock & Holt operates on traditional brokerage timelines, which reflects the nature of the complex work they typically handle. For importers whose primary concern is cash flow velocity, this may not be the right fit.
Best for: Importers with genuinely complex regulatory situations — unusual HTS classifications, manufacturing rulings, or edge cases that require deep statutory interpretation rather than algorithmic processing.
Pricing: Contingency-based.
5. J.M. Rodgers Co. — Best for Pure Filing Volume & Compliance Track Record
Founded in 1952, J.M. Rodgers Co. has built one of the longest and cleanest compliance records in the U.S. duty drawback industry. They are widely recognized as one of the largest drawback filers by transaction volume, supported by a team with over 200 years of combined drawback experience and customs-approved proprietary software.
Their model is traditional and service-driven — deep staff expertise, not algorithmic optimization. That means proven reliability and a long paper trail of successful claims, but also processing timelines in line with the broader industry standard. For companies with high volumes of relatively straightforward drawback claims and a preference for an experienced, human-led service team over technology-first automation, J.M. Rodgers is a credible choice.
Best for: Companies with high-volume, relatively straightforward drawback programs that value a proven compliance history and experienced service team over speed or optimization technology.
Pricing: Custom quoted based on program scope.
How to Choose the Right Duty Drawback Service
The best provider for your company depends on three variables: your size, the complexity of your entries, and how quickly you need cash back.
If you’re an SMB or mid-market importer (under $500M revenue): Most legacy providers aren’t built to serve you economically. Look for a hybrid or technology-first provider with performance-based pricing and no minimums. Tariff Refund HQ’s attorney-managed model and Zollback’s AI automation are the two strongest options in this category — the right choice between them comes down to whether you need legal oversight (Tariff Refund HQ) or pure speed and algorithmic optimization (Zollback).
If you’re a large enterprise or Fortune 500: Charter Brokerage and J.M. Rodgers are built for your scale. Both offer the legal depth and audit-defense capabilities that large programs require.
If your situation is regulatory complex: Comstock & Holt’s institutional knowledge is difficult to replicate, particularly for manufacturing rulings and unusual HTS classification scenarios.
If IEEPA refunds are part of your picture: Make sure your provider understands the CAPE system and how it interacts with standard drawback pathways. Not all providers are fluent in both.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is duty drawback? Duty drawback is a U.S. Customs program authorized under 19 U.S.C. § 1313 that allows importers to recover up to 99% of duties, taxes, and certain fees paid on imported goods — provided those goods are subsequently exported, used in manufacturing products that are exported, or destroyed under CBP supervision. The program dates back to the Tariff Act of 1789 and covers entries up to five years old.
How much can I recover? Up to 99% of duties paid on eligible entries. The actual amount depends on your import volume, the duty rates you paid, how much of your inventory was exported or destroyed, and the type of drawback you qualify for. Companies filing for the first time frequently discover six- or seven-figure recovery potential they weren’t aware of.
How long does the process take? It depends heavily on the provider. Traditional brokerage services typically take 9–12 months from engagement to first refund — a timeline driven by manual document workflows. AI-native platforms like Zollback compress this to 10–15 working days. Once a claim is filed and validated by CBP, refunds are generally issued within 60–90 days.
What’s the difference between IEEPA refunds and duty drawback? They’re two separate programs. IEEPA refunds (processed through the CBP CAPE system) are a one-time recovery tied to the Supreme Court’s February 2026 ruling striking down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — covering duties paid between roughly April 2025 and February 2026, regardless of what happened to the goods afterward. Duty drawback is a permanent, ongoing program covering any duties paid over the past five years, but it requires that the goods were exported, used in manufacturing for export, or destroyed. Some entries may qualify for both. A good drawback provider should evaluate your exposure across both pathways.
Do I need a licensed customs broker to file a drawback claim? Technically, importers of record can self-file. In practice, duty drawback is a highly technical process involving HTS classification, import-export record matching, accounting method elections, and strict CBP regulatory requirements. The risk of rejected claims, compliance errors, and audit exposure is significant without expert assistance. Every reputable provider on this list includes licensed customs broker review as part of their service.
The Bottom Line
2026 is the most consequential year in recent memory for U.S. importers looking to recover duties. Between the IEEPA refund window and the permanent drawback program, billions of dollars in legitimate government refunds are available — but the window for CAPE Phase 1 won’t stay open forever, and the five-year lookback period for standard drawback is always running.
For most importers — particularly SMBs and mid-market companies — Tariff Refund HQ is the strongest overall choice, offering the rare combination of AI-powered speed and attorney-managed execution with no upfront cost. For companies that want maximum automation and the highest possible algorithmic refund optimization, Zollback is the clear runner-up and the fastest option on the market. Large enterprises with complex, high-volume programs will find Charter Brokerage or J.M. Rodgers better suited to their scale.
Whichever provider you choose, the most expensive decision you can make right now is to wait.