Photo Credit: Bankrate.com & IRS.gov

Photo Credit: Bankrate.com & IRS.gov

 

The IRS says there’s millions in unclaimed tax refunds just waiting to be claimed by Americans. A total of $917 million has been unaccounted for since the 2009 tax season. This money was left by workers who hadn’t filed their taxes. To help push the IRS efforts to find these taxpayers, H&R Block launched a “get their billion back” ad campaign this month.

 

In addition, the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) says that there’s at least $42 billion in unclaimed property in various U.S. states. The properties have been left behind due to various reasons: change of address, death, unknown existence by estate executors or family heirs, and so on. “Property” includes uncashed paychecks, stocks, checking accounts, insurance payments, certificates of deposit and expired gift card balances.

 

According to Bankrate.com, California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois are the top five states with the most in unclaimed tax refunds. If you believe you or a family member owns this money, you can conduct a name search at MissingMoney.com.  But, don’t wait too long. Apparently, the law states that there’s a 3-year time span in which you can claim and obtain these funds. Meaning, if you forgot to file your taxes in 2009, you had until 2013 to claim your money.

 

By law, there’s a three-year window to recover unclaimed tax refunds and you can do so by filing a federal tax return. The last date to recover refunds for 2010 will be April 15, 2014. If you miss the deadline, you can basically kiss your cash goodbye — it officially becomes property of the U.S. Treasury. Certain exceptions apply for people who can prove they’ve experienced a mental or physical impairment.

 

For heirs or guardians, you have to provide certain information in order to retrieve your deceased family members property. Proof of ownership must be in the form of a power of attorney. Also, you’ll have to provide the deceased Social Security number, proof of deceased address (via deed, utility bill), etc.

 

 

Source: Yahoo