According to the Internal Revenue Service, there is roughly $1.5 billion dollars in unclaimed tax refunds for 2019 tax returns. This money is currently waiting to be distributed to the approximately 1.5 million taxpayers who did not file a tax return in 2019.
Overview
Taxpayers have until July 17th of this year to claim their 2019 refund. All refund money that isn’t claimed by this deadline will officially become the property of the US Treasury. The average refund for 2019 tax returns is roughly $900. The date of July 17th is already an extension of the original due date of these returns, which were postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic.
IRS Statement
In a statement, IRS commissioner Danny Werfel said, “The 2019 tax returns came due during the pandemic, and many people may have overlooked or forgotten about these refunds. We want taxpayers to claim these refunds, but time is running out.”
Wrap Up
In order to be eligible to receive this refund, taxpayers must have already filed tax returns for both the years 2020 and 2021. If they haven’t done so, their check may be held by the Internal Revenue Service. Additionally, the refund will be applied to any outstanding payments with the IRS or State tax agencies.