Chapter 11 Quarterly Fees

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1930(a)(6), a quarterly fee shall be paid to the United States Trustee System Fund at Treasury in each case under chapter 11 (except small business cases under Subchapter V of chapter 11) for each calendar quarter, or portion thereof, between the date a bankruptcy petition is filed and the date the court enters a final decree closing the case, dismisses the case, or converts the case to another chapter in bankruptcy. 

The quarterly fee is calculated by totaling the reported disbursements for the three-month calendar quarter, or portion thereof, according to the fee schedules shown below.  The quarterly fee amount will be estimated if disbursements for all of the months of a calendar quarter that the case is open have not been reported to the United States Trustee.  The estimated fee is based on: a) the reported disbursement history, b) the debtor’s initial financial data submitted when the case was filed, or c) the United States Trustee’s estimate.  If there is a disagreement with the estimated quarterly fee noted on the billing statement, then Monthly Operating Reports or actual disbursement reports supporting a different calculation must be filed with the bankruptcy court and served on the United States Trustee office. The applicable minimum fee is due even if there were no disbursements during a calendar quarter.  The fee is not prorated.

The Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act of 2020, Pub. L. No. 116-325, enacted on January 12, 2021, temporarily amended the calculation of chapter 11 quarterly fees for calendar quarters beginning April 1, 2021 through December 31, 2025. Under this amendment, the quarterly fee payable for a calendar quarter shall be the greater of: (1) 0.4% of disbursements or $250 for each quarter in which disbursements total less than $1,000,000, and (2) 0.8% of disbursements but not more than $250,000 for each quarter in which disbursements total at least $1,000,000. The following table displays the disbursement ranges and quarterly fees under the amended quarterly fee schedule for calendar quarters beginning April 1, 2021 through December 31, 2025.

The Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017, Pub. L. No. 115-72, as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, Pub. L. No. 116-93, § 219, 133 Stat. 2317, 2415 (2019), temporarily amended the calculation of chapter 11 quarterly fees effective January 1, 2018. Under this amendment, during each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022, if the balance in the United States Trustee System Fund (Fund) as of September 30 of the most recent full fiscal year was less than $200 million for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 and less than $300 million for fiscal years 2020 and 2021, the quarterly fee payable for a calendar quarter in which disbursements equal or exceed $1 million shall be the lesser of 1 percent of such disbursements or $250,000. At each measuring point, the Fund balance was below the applicable threshold. Because this amended fee schedule was superseded by the amendment in the Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act of 2020, this amended fee schedule applied from January 1, 2018 through March 31, 2021.

Quarterly fees are due no later than one month following the end of each calendar quarter.  Failure to pay quarterly fees may result in the conversion or dismissal of the case.  Payment of that quarter’s fees and any past due fees and interest, if applicable, must be made before the effective date of a confirmed plan of reorganization and quarterly fees will continue to accrue until entry of the final decree, or until the case is converted or dismissed.  Failure to pay these fees may result in a motion by the United States Trustee to dismiss or convert the case to a chapter 7 case.

A billing statement from the United States Trustee Program is mailed to the debtor or other designated party for each calendar quarter before the payment due date. Chapter 11 quarterly fees may be paid online at https://www.pay.gov/public/form/start/672415208 or by mailing the tear off portion of the statement and a check, made payable to “United States Trustee”. 

The address to use to mail quarterly fee payments is:

United States Trustee Payment Center
P.O. Box 6200-19
Portland, OR 97228-6200

The address to use for overnight delivery is:

U.S. Bank
Attn Government Lockbox – U.S. Trustee Payment Center 6200-19
17650 N.E. Sandy Blvd
Portland, OR 97230-5000

The addresses shown above are a lockbox at a bank. Do not use these addresses for service of process, correspondence, or any purpose other than paying quarterly fees. Any other correspondence or documents sent to the lockbox other than the payment form will be destroyed.

Each quarterly fee must be timely paid. Failure to receive a bill from the Executive Office for United States Trustees does not excuse timely payment. Failure to pay the quarterly fee is cause for conversion or dismissal of the chapter 11 case pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1112(b)(4)(K) (for cases filed on or after October 17, 2005) or 11 U.S.C. § 1112(b)(10) (for cases filed before October 17, 2005).