Nearly 1.5 million people have unclaimed tax refunds from 2019, amounting to $1.5 billion and you have only a few weeks left to act. The cutoff date is July 17th.
“You’ll be surprised to find how many have not filed tax returns, even for years,” said Bill Bloss with RLB Accountants in Allentown.
The IRS says many may have overlooked or forgotten about filing because of the pandemic, the original deadline for 2019 was extended. Those who usually don’t make enough to file a tax return may be unaware that they’re eligible for fully-refundable pandemic-era tax credit, such as the the earned income tax credit (EITC), worth up to $6,557 for low to moderate income workers, and there’s more.
“You’ve got the earned income credit, you’ve got child tax credits, dependent care credits,” Bloss said “But they’re just not aware that it’s out there.”
In Pennsylvania alone, the IRS estimates 56,000 unclaimed refunds for 2019. In New Jersey, 40,000. The median refund for both states is $924.
“Some people have had federal tax withheld from their pay and even though they feel they don’t need to file a tax return, that tax they can get back beyond what these tax credits suggest,” Bloss said.
While there’s still some time to file, it may take a while to gather the necessary documents from a few years ago.
You may have to file a return for 2020 and 2021 as well in order to receive your refund.
“You can sign up on IRS.gov, get a transcript of all the information that’s been filed on your behalf. They’ll send that information so you can prepare a tax return from that,” Bloss said.
2019 returns must be filed on paper, so it may take longer to get the money back.