Cancel or reverse a payout

Cancel a payout item

You can cancel a payout item only if its status is UNCLAIMED. Use the PayPal business account dashboard or Payouts API to cancel unclaimed payout items.

Note: Unclaimed payouts expire in 30 days, and PayPal returns the money to your PayPal account.

Dashboard

1. Log in to your PayPal business account.
2. Select Activity > Transactions > All Transactions.
3. On the Transactions page:
   1. Select Email address from the drop-down list.
   2. Enter the recipient’s email address in the search box.
   3. Select Filter.
   4. Select the date range.
   5. Select Apply Filters. The search results display the transaction list that match your criteria.
4. Select the title of the unclaimed payment you want to cancel.
5. On the details page, select Cancel and follow the on-screen instructions.

Payouts API

1. Send the POST request to the /v1/payments/payouts-item/{payout_item_id}/cancel endpoint. Replace {payout_item_id} with the payout item ID retrieved from the Show payout batch details response.
2. Review the response to confirm the cancellation of the payout item. A successful request returns the HTTP 200 OK status code with a JSON response body that shows payout item details.

Sample request

curl -v -X POST https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v1/payments/payouts-item/5KUDKLF8SDC7S/cancel \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS-TOKEN>' \
-d '{}' 

Sample response

{
  "payout_item_id": "5KUDKLF8SDC7S",
  "transaction_id": "1DG93452WK758815H",
  "activity_id": "0E158638XS0329101",
  "transaction_status": "RETURNED",
  "payout_item_fee": {
    "currency": "USD",
    "value": "0.35"
  },
  "payout_batch_id": "CQMWKDQF5GFLL",
  "sender_batch_id": "Payouts_2018_100006",
  "payout_item": {
    "recipient_type": "EMAIL",
    "amount": {
      "value": "9.87",
      "currency": "USD"
    },
    "note": "Thanks for your patronage!",
    "receiver": "[email protected]",
    "sender_item_id": "14Feb_234"
  },
  "time_processed": "2018-01-27T10:17:41Z",
  "errors": {
    "name": "RECEIVER_UNREGISTERED",
    "message": "Receiver is unregistered",
    "information_link": "https://developer.paypal.com/docs/api/payments.payouts-batch#errors"
  },
  "links": [
    {
      "rel": "self",
      "href": "https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v1/payments/payouts-item/5KUDKLF8SDC7S",
      "method": "GET"
    },
    {
      "rel": "batch",
      "href": "https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v1/payments/payouts/CQMWKDQF5GFLL",
      "method": "GET"
    }
  ]
}

Reverse payouts

PayPal cannot reverse payments sent to incorrect email addresses or phone numbers. However, if the status of the payout item is UNCLAIMED, you can cancel the payout item and create a new payout with the correct recipient details. If not, all the unclaimed payouts will expire in 30 days, and PayPal returns the money to your PayPal account.

API Reference

Cancel unclaimed payout item: /v1/payments/payouts-item/{payout_item_id}/cancel