# Refunds

> Refund all or part of a payment, and let Borga issue the matching credit note in your accounting system.

Source: https://docs.borga.is/payments/refunds

A refund returns money to the payer's card. Refunds are their own object (`ref_…`) so a payment can have several partial refunds over time. Bank-invoice payments cannot be refunded through Borga; issue a credit note in your accounting system and pay the customer back directly.

## Create a refund

```ts Node.js
// Partial refund. Omit `amount` to refund everything that is left.
const refund = await borga.refunds.create(
  {
    payment: "pay_7Hs2Kq9LmW4xZc1Vb8Ny3Rt6",
    amount: 990,
    reason: "Returned one item",
    metadata: { ticket: "support_1729" },
  },
  { idempotencyKey: "refund_support_1729" },
);

console.log(refund.status); // "pending" until payment.refunded arrives
```
```bash curl
curl https://api.borga.is/v1/refunds \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_test_…" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: refund_support_1729" \
  -d '{
    "payment": "pay_7Hs2Kq9LmW4xZc1Vb8Ny3Rt6",
    "amount": 990,
    "reason": "Returned one item"
  }'
```

Omit `amount` to refund the full remaining balance. The refundable balance is the payment's `amount` minus `refunded_amount` minus any refunds still pending, so two concurrent partial refunds cannot exceed the payment. Only payments in status `succeeded` or `processing` can be refunded.

Always send an `Idempotency-Key` with refunds. A retried request with the same key returns the original refund instead of creating a second one; see [Idempotency](/api/idempotency).

## Statuses

| Status | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `pending` | Accepted by the processor, awaiting confirmation. `refund.created` fired. |
| `succeeded` | Confirmed. The payment's `refunded_amount` has increased and `payment.refunded` fired. When fully refunded, the payment's status becomes `refunded`. |
| `failed` | The processor rejected the refund. Nothing was returned. |

Confirmation usually arrives within seconds. The money reaches the payer's card in a few business days depending on their bank.

## Credit notes

If the original payment was booked as an invoice in PayDay or DK+, a succeeded refund creates a **credit note** there for the refunded amount and Borga records it as a CreditNote object (`cn_…`) with `credit_note.created`. Your books therefore show the sale and the reversal without manual work. See [Invoicing](/billing/invoicing).

## Errors

| Code | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| [`payment_not_refundable`](/errors/payment_not_refundable) | The payment is not `succeeded` or `processing`. |
| [`amount_too_large`](/errors/amount_too_large) | More than the refundable balance. |
| [`card_payment_reverse_failed`](/errors/card_payment_reverse_failed) | The processor refused. The refund is recorded as `failed`. |
| [`card_payment_reverse_uncertain`](/errors/card_payment_reverse_uncertain) | The processor did not answer. The refund stays `pending`; check its status before retrying. |

## Fees

The fee on the original payment is not returned. There is no fee on the refund itself.