Each year, there is an excess of $1 billion of federal unclaimed income tax refunds - and you may be one of those owed unexpected money from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS.)
Overview
Unclaimed tax refunds are more common in the United States than one might think. Common reasons for unclaimed tax refunds include failure to file a tax return (which is especially likely among those who made only a few thousand dollars and didn't legally have to file) or not notifying the IRS of a forwarding address after a move. Claiming your owed money does not need to be a difficult process, but you usuallly only have three years to get any unclaimed funds before they expire.
Refund Tracking
If you have faithfully filed your taxes on time each year, you still might have unclaimed tax refunds - especially if you moved. Checking the status of owed funds is fairly simple and can usually be done online at Where's My Refund? You will need the year of the tax return (remember if it is more than three years old it is normally too late to get any unclaimed money), the amount of Adjusted Gross Income for the tax year, and your personal information such as Social Security Number.
If you cannot pull up your refund status online, you may wish to call the IRS or visit your local IRS taxpayer center.
Direct deposit of unclaimed tax refunds is usually possible, but be absolutely sure of your account and routing numbers to avoid further delivery problems.
If You Did Not File
If you did not file and worked any job where taxes were taken out (usually reported on a W-2 form) then you may be eligible for a tax refund. It is usually worth filing if federal taxes were deducted from your paychecks, and economic stimulus payments may add to your refund. Using a software program like TurboTax or TaxACT usually takes the guesswork out of filing taxes and allows you to select direct deposit as your refund method. Thorough information on late tax returns can be found in the Bright Hub article "Guide to Filing Taxes Late."
State Taxes
The same general rules normally apply to possible unclaimed tax refunds from states in which you worked. Filing state taxes, even late, can be done through software packages. If any employer deducted state and/or local taxes from your paycheck, then you may be owed money from those jurisdictions.