Nebraska Businesses Face Uphill Battle for Tariff Refunds Amid Complex Process
Across Nebraska, business owners are joining a nationwide effort to claim part of over $166 billion available in tariff refunds. Despite facing increased costs due to these tariffs, many local businesses and consumers find themselves ineligible for refunds.
Tariffs, essentially taxes on international imports, were introduced by President Donald Trump in the previous spring. Megan Hunt, a state senator from Nebraska and a small business owner in Omaha, had anticipated rising operating costs as a result. Her inventory, including clothing and paper goods, relies heavily on imports.
“One thing I love about independent retail is that you can give your customers an experience where they can get goods from all over the world that they would never normally find in Omaha, Nebraska,” Hunt said.
Initially, Hunt expected her tariff bills to be manageable, forecasting a few hundred dollars. However, her first bill surpassed expectations, totaling over $2,000, a significant blow to her operations.
“I had a tariff bill over $2,000,” Hunt recalled. “It was like getting the wind knocked out of you.”
Over the past year, these tariffs have cost Hunt’s business more than $16,000, with efforts to recover these costs through refunds proving unsuccessful.
“It’s like trying to get Taylor Swift tickets when the Eras Tour popped up,” remarked Jason Ball, president of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce.
Ball noted that the refund application portal only opened a week ago, and the process is anticipated to be lengthy and complex. As tariff costs accumulated, some businesses adapted by sourcing products from different countries, while others transferred the costs to consumers. Unfortunately, some businesses struggled significantly.
“It’s been a very uncertain environment,” Ball said. “Predictably, we had a lot of great Lincoln companies that are exactly the type of corporations we want in Nebraska. Yet they are being hindered by having to pay tariff rates on anything they’re importing.”
According to We Pay the Tariffs, a collective of small-business owners nationwide, Nebraska importers have paid over $480 million in tariffs from spring 2025 to spring this year.
“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of families that are hurting right now,” stated Angie Lauritsen, director of Nebraskans for Us, a nonprofit centered on economic policy. “Nebraska businesses over the last year… many had to decrease staff. They had to let people go. They ended up closing.”
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in February that the tariffs imposed by Trump were illegal and mandated their return to American businesses. Despite maintaining records of her tariff-related expenses, Hunt has found the refund application process prohibitively complicated, suggesting it might be intentionally discouraging.
“I honestly have zero faith that I’m going to get the money back,” Hunt expressed.
