Tariff Refunds Would Spell Nightmare for Related-Company Deals

The possibility that many of President Donald Trump’s tariffs could be ruled illegal has companies salivating at the chance to recoup tariffs already paid—sometimes stretching well into the millions.

But it might also mean a misery of refund disputes with suppliers, customers, and tax authorities around the world all looking to make sure they get what they’re owed and scrutinizing exactly where companies allocate that money internally and to outside suppliers and customers.

The Supreme Court is to hear arguments Nov. 5 on the validity of the levies Trump instituted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

If the tariffs are ruled invalid, companies could see up to $108 billion in already-paid tariff amounts refunded, according to a recent PwC analysis.

“For a lot of the companies we deal with, these are tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars,” PwC principal Chris Desmond said. “That CFO, CEO hears about that, and they’re like, ‘How quickly can we get that? We are going after that. We are going to get that in. I want to market that as a receivable.”

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-tax-report-international/tariff-refunds-would-spell-nightmare-for-related-company-deals