The IRS has $1 billion in unclaimed 2020 tax refunds; is some of it yours?

Taxpayers who may have unclaimed refunds for tax year 2020 have until May 17 to submit tax returns for those funds, the IRS said Monday.

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According to the agency, roughly 940,000 people in the U.S. have unclaimed refunds from the 2020 tax year. Nationwide, the IRS said that there are more than $1 billion in unclaimed refunds from that tax year.

The average median refund for 2020 is $932, the agency said. Texas (93,400), California (88,200), Florida (53,200) and New York (51,400) have the largest amount of people potentially eligible for these refunds, according to the IRS website.

Pennsylvania has 38,600 outstanding refunds from 2020, Georgia has 36,400, Ohio has 31,400, Washington has 26,200 and South Carolina has 11,900.

If you need to file a 2020 tax return, you need to collect key documents. The IRS says you can take these steps to get the information you need to file a 2020 return:

• Request copies of key documents: Taxpayers who are missing forms W-2, 1098, 1099 or 5498 for the years 2020, 2021 or 2022 can request copies from their employers, banks or other payers.
• Use Get Transcript Online at IRS.gov: Taxpayers who are unable to get those missing forms from their employers or other payers can order a free wage and income transcript at IRS.gov using the Get Transcript Online tool. For many taxpayers, this is by far the quickest and easiest option.
• Request a transcript: Another option is for people to file Form 4506-T with the IRS to request a “wage and income transcript.” A wage and income transcript shows data from information returns received by the IRS, such as forms W-2, 1099, 1098, Form 5498 and IRA contribution information. Taxpayers can use the information from the transcript to file their tax returns. But plan ahead — these written requests can take several weeks; people are strongly urged to try the other options first.

Taxpayers typically have three years to file and claim tax refunds, otherwise, the money becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury, The Associated Press reported.

The deadline for the three-year window to file for an unclaimed form is generally the same as the tax payment deadline — April 15. For 2020, however, the deadline for unfiled returns was postponed to May 17 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taxpayers must have filed a return for tax year 2021 and 2022 before filing for any 2020 refunds, the agency noted.

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