Nearly $1 billion in tax refunds for people who never filed their 2020 tax returns remain still unclaimed, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said.
Time is running out to get the money.
May 17 is the deadline.
While taxpayers usually have three years to file tax returns, you get an extra month because the 2020 tax deadline was extended during the pandemic. That also extended the deadline for late returns, the IRS said.
If you don’t claim the money by the deadline, it becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury, the IRS said.
Nearly 25,000 New Jersey residents are estimated to have pending refunds totaling more than $27.4 million, the IRS said. The median refund is $920, just two bucks lower than the national median refund of $932, the IRS said.
Some people could be due significantly higher refunds. If you are eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit for stimulus checks that were not received for the 2020 tax year, you could be due a hefty payment.
“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,” the IRS commissioner said.
You can get current and prior year tax forms and instructions on the IRS.gov Forms and Publications page or by calling (800) TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).
Stories by Karin Price Mueller
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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @KPMueller.