The government could owe you money, but time is running out to collect it.
About 940,000 people in the U.S. still haven’t filed their 2020 tax return, the IRS said in a recent press release, meaning that there’s more than $1 billion in refunds remain unclaimed.
“There’s money remaining on the table for hundreds of thousands of people who haven’t filed 2020 tax returns,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in the press release. “We want taxpayers to claim these refunds, but time is running out for people who may have overlooked or forgotten about these refunds.”
Taxpayers usually have three years to file and claim their tax refunds. If they don’t file in that time period, then the money becomes U.S. Treasury property.
However, taxpayers have a little more time with their 2020 returns, as the deadline was postponed to May 17, 2024, because of the covid-19 pandemic.
“People faced extremely unusual situations during the pandemic, which may have led some people to forget about a potential refund on their 2020 tax returns,” Werfel said in the release. “People may have just overlooked these, including students, part-time workers and others. 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.”
The average median refund for 2020 is $932, the IRS said. In Pennsylvania, about 38,600 people are owed an average of $1,031 for a total of $43,412,900.
Keep in mind that your 2020 tax refund could be held if you haven’t yet filed your returns for 2021 and 2022. Also, any refund you receive for 2020 will be applied to any federal or state tax amount you already owe. It could also be used to offset any unpaid child support or other past-due federal debts, like student loans.
