Unclaimed Tax Refunds: IRS Still Holds Over $1 Billion in Payments; Here’s How to Claim Yours Before May 17 Expiration

By Madz Dizon

Apr 30, 2024 11:46 PM EDT

Tax Refund Checks Star of Republican Rally — A man holds up a copy of a tax refund check August 2, 2001 outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
(Photo : Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

The IRS currently holds over $1 billion in unclaimed refunds for tax year 2020, which will soon be distributed.

If you failed to file taxes in 2021 due to eligibility concerns, forgetfulness, or a desire to avoid the stress of filing, it's possible that the IRS is currently withholding your tax refund, which may include a 2020 recovery rebate credit.

IRS Says Get Your Unclaimed Tax Refunds

The average unpaid refund amount is $932, which is quite a significant sum of money to overlook. In addition, the IRS will not be keeping these funds for much longer.

As per the latest information from the IRS, there are nearly 940,000 taxpayers who have refunds from 2020 that have not been claimed.

For those taxpayers who have yet to claim their 2020 refund, time is running out to take action. According to regulations, the IRS retains these unclaimed tax refunds for a period of three years.

The funds are typically transferred to the US Treasury once the deadline for claiming your refund has expired. It is important to file your 2020 tax return if you believe the IRS may owe you a refund.

According to CNBC, you will need to obtain the required documents from the 2020 tax year to proceed. These are some commonly encountered ones:

Employers issue Form W-2 to provide employees with details about their income from the previous year, including any taxes that were withheld.
Form 1099 is commonly used to document payments received from freelance work or any other non-employer income, such as interest income.
Form 5498 is utilized to document the contributions made to your individual retirement account.

If you don't already have these documents, you can ask your employer or bank for copies. If you can't access them through that method, you have the option to utilize the IRS's "Get Transcript Online" tool.

This tool allows you to request a wage and income transcript at no cost, providing you with the necessary documents for filing.

May 17 Deadline

Because of the ongoing financial strain caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, the IRS delayed the tax deadline from April 15, 2021 to May 17, 2021 in 2021, therefore if you wish to claim your lost money, you must file your 2020 return by May 17, 2024.

Because tax returns for previous years cannot be submitted online, you must verify that your 2021 return is addressed to the appropriate IRS regional office and postmarked by the May 17 deadline for most taxpayers.