The IRS announced that it has billions of dollars for taxpayers who did not file a return for 2006 and are due a refund. Taxpayers can file un-filed returns to claim a federal refund up to three years after the original tax due date. The money the IRS holds in unclaimed refunds is returned to the United States Treasury after three years. Currently, the unclaimed refunds for tax year 2006 is due to go to the government by April 15, 2010.
Size of the IRS Unclaimed Refunds for 2006
The 2006 pool of unclaimed tax refunds is 1.3 billion dollars for about 1.4 million individuals. Each taxpayer is estimated to be owned an average of $604 dollars according to the IRS. These taxpayers are located through out the United States in all states. This is a breakdown of the 10 states with the largest amount of money in unclaimed 2006 IRS tax refunds and their respective average per person and total state refunds:
- California - $554, $150,640,000
- Texas - $653, $114,720,000
- Florida - $641, $110,709,000
- New York - $666, $87,563,000
- Illinois - $655, $54,740,000
- Pennsylvania - $652, $45,050,000
- New Jersey - $666, $43,030,000
- Georgia - $560, $42,642,000
- Michigan - $618, $40,790,000
- Washington - $641, $39,713,000
How to File for These Unclaimed IRS Refunds
Taxpayers who did not file a federal return for the tax year 2006 can do so by April 15, 2010. The proper IRS form such as the 2006 1040 or 1040EZ must be completed and mailed to the IRS by this date. If a refund is claimed, this will be applied first to any back taxes owned. If no taxes are owned, the whole refund will be mailed out to the taxpayers by the IRS. Taxpayers are also required to file for tax years 2007 and 2008 in cases where they haven’t.
Getting Previous Years Federal Tax Forms and Documents
Old and new tax forms are available at the IRS website IRS.gov under “Forms and Publications.” The IRS also provides assistance via telephone at 1-800-829-3676. Individuals that don’t have copies of their w-2 and other tax documents can ask their employers and banks or other financial institutions for these documents. The IRS also provides transcripts showing tax information if taxpayers fill out Form 4506-T.
Filing State Returns for Previous Years
These unclaimed tax refunds are coming from the IRS or Federal government; however taxpayers are encouraged to also file their state returns for these years if they haven’t. State governments may also have unclaimed refunds for the year 2006. It’s advisable to file the state returns for 2006, 2007 and 2008 in cases taxpayers haven’t done so, just like the IRS requires for Federal returns. State tax forms and information can be found at each state Finance/Tax Department.
Tip
The 2006 IRS Unclaimed Tax Refund is one type of unclaimed refunds. The IRS may also have unclaimed refunds for individuals who filed timely returns for any other year and did not receive a due refund check. The IRS may be holding checks of taxpayers that moved from one state to another or out of the country and did not filled out Form 8822 change of address. These refunds can be claimed by contacting the IRS.
Other Tax Articles
Business Car Tax Deduction– Claiming car expenses for business.
Section 179 Vehicle Tax Deduction– Writing off the cost of a business vehicle including SUVs.
Resources: Public Information at the IRS website – newsroom, current as of March 5, 2010.
Sylvia Cruz - Sylvia holds Bachelor and Master degrees in Business Administration with majors in Finance and Accounting. She is also a CIA - Certified ...
