A TikTok Promote charge on your bank or card statement is a payment for TikTok’s built-in advertising tool, which lets users push a video to people beyond their followers. If the amount looks higher than what you set as your budget, the two usual culprits are the 30% App Store commission on in-app coin purchases and state or local sales tax added at checkout. If you didn’t knowingly run a campaign at all, you can cancel any active promotion from your profile, report the transaction to TikTok, and escalate to Apple, Google, or your bank if TikTok won’t resolve it.
Why the Amount Is Often Higher Than You Expected
Two surcharges explain most surprise totals.
The first is the App Store commission. If you funded the promotion by buying TikTok Coins inside the iOS or Android app, Apple or Google took a 30% cut of the coin purchase before any of it reached your ad budget.1The Verge. TikTok Seems to Be Dodging App Store Commissions in Epic Fashion A $100 coin top-up actually costs $130, with the extra $30 going to the app store rather than toward impressions. The reduced 15% rate under Apple’s Small Business Program does not apply to TikTok.2Apple Developer. App Store Small Business Program Buying coins through tiktok.com in a browser, or paying for Promote directly with a card instead of coins, avoids this entirely. TikTok has even prompted some iOS users to recharge on its website to skip in-app service fees.3Engadget. TikTok Might Be Going Around Apples In-App Purchase Rules for Its Coins
The second is sales tax. State and local tax may be added on top of the base Promote cost, and the rate depends on your billing address and whether your jurisdiction taxes digital advertising services.4TikTok For Business. United States – About Sales Tax This is the most common reason a statement shows a few dollars more than the budget you entered.
One more possibility worth ruling out: TikTok draws funds incrementally as impressions are delivered, so a single campaign can appear on your statement as several smaller charges on different dates rather than one lump sum.
How to Stop an Active Promotion
Open TikTok, go to your profile, tap the menu icon, and select Creator Tools. Open the Promote dashboard, find the video that’s running, and end the promotion. Delivery stops immediately after you confirm.
What happens to the unspent portion depends on how you paid. If you funded the campaign with TikTok Coins, the remainder typically stays in your TikTok wallet as Promote Balance; it doesn’t automatically convert back to coins or to cash. If you paid by card, TikTok generally shouldn’t charge the unspent amount in the first place, because billing is tied to actual delivery.
Getting the Money Back
Moving funds from a Promote Balance back to your bank is the hard part. TikTok’s refund policy for its advertising platform states that refunds do not include unused ad credits or other benefits granted by TikTok. Cash refunds are only processed for fully closed accounts after all campaigns have completed, and even then TikTok allows up to 60 calendar days to return money to the original payment method.5TikTok For Business. Refund Policies Accounts suspended for policy violations are not eligible for refunds at all.
One narrow exception worth knowing: if TikTok rejects a video during review and the campaign never runs, you aren’t charged for delivery. Certain approvals can take up to seven days, after which an unapproved order is automatically cancelled.6TikTok Business Help Center. About TikTok Advertising Policies for Promote
Disputing a Charge You Didn’t Authorize
You have three escalation paths. The right one depends on how the money actually moved.
Report the Transaction to TikTok
TikTok runs a dedicated transaction report form, separate from general support. You can reach it through the Help section inside the app or on TikTok’s website.7TikTok. Report Transaction Issue Include the date, the amount, and any transaction reference you can pull from your Promote history. TikTok may issue a credit to your account; a direct refund to your card is less common and is subject to the refund limits above.
Contact Apple or Google
If the charge was an in-app coin purchase, Apple or Google processed the payment, so they also have authority to reverse it. On iOS, use reportaproblem.apple.com. On Android, use the Google Play support page. These disputes sometimes move faster than TikTok’s internal process, particularly when the purchase is clearly unauthorized.
File a Chargeback
As a last resort, file a chargeback with your bank or card issuer. This reverses the payment entirely. Be aware that TikTok may suspend your account if a chargeback goes through against it, so this option is best saved for cases where TikTok and the app store have both denied your claim, or where you believe your payment information was used fraudulently.
If Someone Else Used Your Phone
The most common cause of a surprise Promote charge is a child or another person with access to your device running a campaign without understanding what it costs. Before you dispute anything, open the Promote dashboard in Creator Tools and check what was actually promoted and when. That history usually makes it obvious whether the charge was yours, someone else’s in your household, or genuinely unknown. Turning on purchase authentication in your phone’s settings prevents a repeat.
One boundary to keep in mind as you work through this: you must be at least 18 to use Promote in the first place.6TikTok Business Help Center. About TikTok Advertising Policies for Promote If the person who ran the campaign was a minor, that fact strengthens an unauthorized-purchase claim with Apple, Google, or your bank.