Finding unclaimed tax money is more common than you might think. In fact, for tax-year 2016, the IRS estimates roughly $1.5 billion in unclaimed money was owed to U.S. taxpayers. That’s a boatload of cash!
The good news thousands of people are finding unclaimed tax money each day using free and easy to use online search tools. In this post, you will learn how you can do that, too.
Why Unclaimed Tax Returns Happen: An Overview
Millions of Americans have unclaimed tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). There are a few reasons why this happens.
Forgot to file taxes
Most of the time, tax refund money becomes unclaimed when the taxpayer(s) did not file a tax return for the prior year. For example, if you forgot to file a tax return in 2019, you could be owed a return for the year 2018, or even 2017, and so forth.
Unless you file a tax return, the IRS does not officially know how much money you made (or didn’t make). Therefore, it cannot calculate what returns or benefits that you might qualify for. Furthermore, the more successive years that go by without filing a return, the harder it becomes to track down how much you are owed. As a result it makes it more difficult for you to claim your money.
Pro Tip: Check out free tax software like FreeTaxUSA to stay on top of your taxes.
Change of name or address
Another common reason that the IRS sits on so much unclaimed money is that it cannot locate the person to whom the money is owed. For example, if you move, change your name, or are disabled for an extended period of time, you might not receive a tax check back from the IRS. And, if the IRS doesn’t have your bank information on file, there’s simply nowhere to send your money. So it sits there unclaimed.
Claim your funds today
The good news is that it’s easy to search for unclaimed tax refunds using a free, official online search tool from the IRS. Go here to get started. Keep in mind that you will need to have the following information ready to go: Social Security number or ITIN, filing status, and the refund amount that you expect.
If you have trouble with the website, don’t hesitate to contact the IRS for help.
Good luck!
