Sending Money Abroad: Your Remittance Transfer Rights Under Regulation E

Published by the Modern Lending Solutions editorial team. Last reviewed: October 30, 2026.

Short answer: when you send more than $15 electronically to someone in another country through a company that does this as part of its normal business, a federal rule called Regulation E gives you rights. Before you pay, the provider must show you its fees, the exchange rate and how much the person will receive. You can cancel within 30 minutes after you pay, if the money has not been picked up or deposited. You have 180 days after the date the money was supposed to arrive to report an error. If you are sending money to pay a bill or help family instead of borrowing, these rules help you compare what each option really costs. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.

Which transfers are covered

Regulation E defines a remittance transfer as “the electronic transfer of funds requested by a sender to a designated recipient that is sent by a remittance transfer provider”, whether or not you have an account with the provider (12 CFR 1005.30(e)(1), eCFR, text up to date as of October 28, 2026, read October 30, 2026). The recipient must be at a location in a foreign country (1005.30(c)), and you must be a consumer in the U.S. sending it for personal, family or household purposes (1005.30(g)).

Transfers of $15 or less are not covered (1005.30(e)(2)(i)).
A company is not treated as a provider if it made 500 or fewer remittance transfers in the previous calendar year and makes 500 or fewer in the current one (1005.30(f)(2)(i)). The CFPB notes that if you use such a company, federal law does not require it to give you these protections (CFPB, last reviewed October 3, 2024, read October 30, 2026; this page may be out of date).

What you must be shown before you pay

When you ask for a transfer, and before you pay, the provider must give you a disclosure (1005.31(e)(1), eCFR). It must show, as applicable (1005.31(b)(1)):

Term on the form	What it means
Transfer Amount	The amount being sent, in the currency you pay in (b)(1)(i)
Transfer Fees and Transfer Taxes	Fees and taxes the provider charges you (b)(1)(ii)
Total	Transfer amount plus those fees and taxes (b)(1)(iii)
Exchange Rate	The rate the provider uses, rounded to 2 to 4 decimal places (b)(1)(iv)
Other Fees	Covered fees charged by others, such as the provider’s agents abroad, in the currency received (b)(1)(vi)
Total to Recipient	The amount the person will receive, in the currency received (b)(1)(vii)

The form may also carry a statement that fees charged by the recipient’s own institution, or taxes collected by someone other than the provider, may reduce the amount received (1005.31(b)(1)(viii)). When you pay, you must get a receipt that repeats these figures and adds the “Date Available”, the recipient’s name, a statement of your error and cancellation rights, and how to contact the provider, the agency that licenses it and the CFPB (1005.31(b)(2)).

In some cases the rule lets a provider show estimates instead of exact figures, and they must be marked as estimates (1005.32, eCFR). The CFPB says: “If you think an estimate is incorrect, ask the provider” (CFPB). The disclosures must be in English and, in set cases, also in the foreign language the provider uses to market its service at that office or that you used to make the transfer (1005.31(g)(1)).

The 1% federal tax when you pay in cash

Public Law 119-21 added a federal tax at 26 U.S.C. 4475: “There is hereby imposed on any remittance transfer a tax equal to 1 percent of the amount of such transfer” (4475(a)). It applies “to transfers made after December 31, 2025” (section 70604(c), GovInfo, read October 30, 2026). The tax “shall be paid by the sender”, and the provider collects it from you (4475(b)(1) and (2)). Whether it applies depends on how you pay:

It applies “only to any remittance transfer for which the sender provides cash, a money order, a cashier’s check, or any other similar physical instrument (as determined by the Secretary) to the remittance transfer provider” (4475(c)).
It does not apply when the money is “withdrawn from an account held in or by a financial institution” of the kinds listed in 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(A) through (H) that is subject to subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31 (4475(d)(1)).
It does not apply when the transfer is funded with a debit card or a credit card issued in the U.S. (4475(d)(2)).

Regulation E requires the pre-payment form to show “any taxes collected on the remittance transfer by the provider” under the term “Transfer Taxes” (1005.31(b)(1)(ii)), and the Total includes them (1005.31(b)(1)(iii)). If you pay in cash and the provider collects this tax, look for it on the Transfer Taxes line. Only for the math: 1% of an example $500.00 transfer is $5.00.

The IRS describes the tax the same way in Notice 2025-55 (IRS, read October 30, 2026) and published proposed rules on it on April 13, 2026 (Federal Register). We found no final rule in the Federal Register as of October 30, 2026; the proposed rules are not final. This is not tax advice.

A fee and rate example, only for the math

This example is only for the math. Every figure in it is an example figure, not a quote from any provider, and the currency received is an example currency. You compare two offers to send $500.

Line on the form	Offer A	Offer B
Transfer Amount	$500.00	$500.00
Transfer Fees	$10.00	$5.00
Total you pay	$510.00	$505.00
Exchange Rate (example)	18.5000	18.2000
Transfer Amount in the currency received	9,250.00	9,100.00
Other Fees (currency received)	50.00	0.00
Total to Recipient	9,200.00	9,100.00

Offer A: $500.00 x 18.5000 = 9,250.00, minus 50.00 in other fees = 9,200.00. Offer B: $500.00 x 18.2000 = 9,100.00, with no other fees = 9,100.00. Offer B has the lower fee, but in this example Offer A costs $5.00 more and delivers 100.00 more units of the currency received. Compare the Total and the Total to Recipient, not the fee alone.

Your right to cancel within 30 minutes

The provider must honor an oral or written request to cancel that it receives “no later than 30 minutes after the sender makes payment”, if the request lets it identify you and the transfer, and the money “has not been picked up by the designated recipient or deposited into an account of the designated recipient” (1005.34(a), eCFR). It must then refund “the total amount of funds provided by the sender”, including fees and, to the extent not prohibited by law, taxes, at no added cost, “within three business days of receiving a sender’s request to cancel” (1005.34(b)).

For a transfer you schedule at least three business days ahead, the rule is different: the provider must honor a cancel request it receives “at least three business days before the scheduled date of the remittance transfer” (1005.36(c), eCFR). A business day here is a day the provider’s offices are open to the public for substantially all business (1005.30(b)).

Your right to have errors fixed

You can report an error orally or in writing. The provider must act on a notice it receives “no later than 180 days after the disclosed date of availability” that identifies you, the recipient and the transfer, and says why you think there is an error (1005.33(b)(1), eCFR). Errors include (1005.33(a)(1)):

You were charged the wrong amount.
A computational or bookkeeping error by the provider.
The recipient did not get the amount shown on your receipt, with exceptions such as a properly disclosed estimate, extraordinary circumstances, or recipient-institution fees and taxes the provider warned about.
The money was not available by the Date Available on your receipt, with exceptions such as extraordinary circumstances, required fraud or legal screening, or a wrong account number you gave when the provider met the rule’s conditions.
Your request for documents or more information about the transfer.

The provider must investigate promptly, decide whether an error occurred “within 90 days of receiving a notice of error”, and report the results to you within three business days after it finishes (1005.33(c)(1)). If it finds an error, you choose the remedy: a refund, or having the correct amount made available to the recipient at no added cost. If the money arrived late, it must also refund the fees and, where not prohibited by law, the taxes on the transfer (1005.33(c)(2)). An inquiry about where a transfer is, before the Date Available has passed, is not an error (1005.33(a)(2)(i)).

Date examples, only for the math

These dates are example dates, and they assume a provider open Monday to Friday. The dates on your own receipt decide the real deadlines.

Example	Deadline
You pay at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, November 2, 2026	Cancel by 10:30 a.m. that day, if not yet picked up or deposited
You cancel on Monday, November 2, 2026	Refund within three business days: by Thursday, November 5, 2026
Date Available on the receipt: Thursday, November 5, 2026	Report an error within 180 days: by May 4, 2027
Transfer scheduled for Friday, November 20, 2026	Cancel request received by Tuesday, November 17, 2026

Before you send

Read the Total and the Total to Recipient on the pre-payment form, not only the fee.
Check the recipient’s name and account details twice.
Keep the receipt; it shows the Date Available that starts your 180 days.
If something looks wrong, ask to cancel within 30 minutes.
Never send money abroad to someone you have not met who pressures you to pay fast. See fake check and overpayment scams and advance-fee loan scams.

Questions to ask a provider

Is this exchange rate exact or an estimate, and why?
Will the recipient’s institution or anyone else take fees or taxes from the amount?
When exactly will the money be available, and how do I cancel?
Do you give the disclosures in my language?
Does the 1% federal remittance transfer tax apply to the way I am paying, and where is it on the form?

If the money leaves your account through a debit card or account transfer you did not make, see lost or stolen debit card liability. If a provider does not fix a problem, see how to file a complaint; your receipt lists the CFPB and the agency that licenses the provider.

Checklist

Covered: more than $15, sent electronically to someone abroad through a provider.
Before you pay: fees, exchange rate and Total to Recipient in writing.
Cancel within 30 minutes, if the money has not been picked up or deposited.
Scheduled transfers: cancel at least three business days before the transfer date.
Report errors within 180 days after the Date Available.

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Sources

Disclosure: Modern Lending Solutions is not a lender, loan broker or agent for any lender or loan broker, and does not make credit decisions. Any compensation we receive is paid by participating lenders, only for advertising services. This guide is general information, not financial or legal advice.