No kidding: IRS has $26 million to give away
April 2nd, 2008, 4:44 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Edward Gately
Unclaimed refunds totaling more than $26 million are awaiting 33,100 Arizonans who failed to file a federal income tax return for 2004, according to the Internal Revenue Service. To collect the money, a 2004 return must be filed with an IRS office no later than April 15.
The IRS estimates that half of those who could claim refunds for 2004 would receive more than $552. In some cases, individuals had taxes withheld from their wages or made payments against their taxes out of self-employed earnings, but had too little income to require filing a return.
When a return isn’t filed, the law provides most taxpayers with a three-year window of opportunity for claiming a refund. If no return is filed within that period, the money becomes property of the U.S. Treasury.
Of course, if you haven’t filed returns for 2005 and/or 2006, the IRS won’t issue a refund for 2004 until those returns also are filed. Also, the refund will be applied to any amounts still owed to the IRS and may be used to satisfy unpaid child support or past due federal debts such as student loans.