United States: The IRS has announced that many taxpayers can be missing out on up to USD 1 billion.
Limited Timeframe
The federal tax collector on Monday revealed that more than 940,000 people across the country are eligible for tax refunds totaling over $1 billion for the tax year 2020, and they don’t have that much time to turn it in – they have up until May 17, as reported by The Associated Press.
Highest Number of Potential Refund
The average middle refund of 2020 is $932. Texas (93,400), California (88,200), Florida (53,200), and NY (51,400) are looking at the highest number of persons potentially qualified for the refund program.
IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement: We urge taxpayers to take advantage of these credits, but their time is limited for those who may have either missed or forgotten about them. Every person should undoubtedly begin the paperwork before May 17, when the deadline ends. We need to avoid losing out.
Claiming Process
Taxpayers who want to file a return, the IRS instructs them to get their W-2, 1098, 1099 or 5498 from their employer or bank — or else request a wage and income transcript using the “Get Transcript Online” tool on IRS.gov.
Statutory Limitation
The taxpayer usually has 3 years to file and claim refund the tax money, otherwise the money goes to the U.S. Treasury.
Normally the last day to file an old return and claim a refund is April 15th, but for 2020 unfiled returns, the pandemic caused the deadline to be extended to May 17, so it could be claimed later. However, if the tax filers for tax year 2021 and 2022 did not file a return for 2020, the refunds for that year will be withheld until they file those years as well so they can check and reimburse in case they owe.
Werfel said “some people may not realize they may be owed a refund. We encourage people to review their files and start gathering records now, so they don’t run the risk of missing the May deadline.”