Unclaimed Federal Tax Refunds for Tax Year 2016

July 2, 2020

State-by-State breakout of possibly forfeited refund money

The Internal Revenue Service is once again holding a vast amount of money — this year it’s an estimated $1.5 billion — that was never sent to around 1.4 million individual taxpayers.

Tax refund 1040 IRS check

The reason? Those folks didn’t file tax year 2016 returns to claim their refunds. They have until the 2020 filing deadline, which in this extraordinary coronavirus-affected tax season is July 15.

As this blog post explains, miss that due date to claim your 3-year-old refund and Uncle Sam gets to keep your money.

The table below details just how much unclaimed money is due taxpayers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

State or District

Estimated

Number of

Individuals

Median

Potential

Refund

Total

Potential

Refunds*

Alabama

23,300

$859

$24,614,400

Alaska

5,500

$979

$6,754,900

Arizona

32,400

$762

$32,281,600

Arkansas

13,400

$822

$13,798,800

California

130,600

$816

$135,981,300

Colorado

27,500

$809

$28,276,500

Connecticut

14,300

$930

$16,213,300

Delaware

5,700

$878

$6,114,500

District of Columbia

3,700

$904

$4,224,600

Florida

99,000

$874

$105,706,400

Georgia

48,600

$792

$49,682,700

Hawaii

7,700

$932

$8,785,600

Idaho

6,200

$727

$5,876,000

Illinois

51,700

$909

$57,312,200

Indiana

32,700

$887

$35,129,700

Iowa

14,700

$908

$15,735,600

Kansas

14,600

$877

$15,706,800

Kentucky

18,700

$869

$19,517,100

Louisiana

24,400

$849

$26,410,100

Maine

5,600

$802

$5,482,200

Maryland

28,200

$873

$31,619,700

Massachusetts

29,900

$956

$34,261,900

Michigan

46,600

$853

$49,591,400

Minnesota

21,000

$803

$21,155,300

Mississippi

12,900

$777

$12,931,600

Missouri

32,400

$828

$33,522,400

Montana

4,600

$781

$4,582,000

Nebraska

7,800

$845

$8,081,700

Nevada

15,900

$859

$16,922,300

New Hampshire

6,500

$965

$7,474,300

New Jersey

36,200

$936

$41,268,900

New Mexico

9,600

$833

$10,219,600

New York

70,300

$958

$80,830,100

North Carolina

44,900

$833

$46,044,500

North Dakota

4,000

$949

$4,539,800

Ohio

52,900

$841

$54,542,900

Oklahoma

21,000

$866

$22,600,000

Oregon

12,400

$762

$21,237,200

Pennsylvania

55,200

$919

$60,505,200

Rhode Island

3,900

$926

$4,410,100

South Carolina

17,200

$769

$17,323,700

South Dakota

3,800

$899

$3,976,100

Tennessee

29,000

$840

$29,834,800

Texas

143,400

$898

$159,809,900

Utah

11,100

$766

$11,037,700

Vermont

2,800

$892

$2,897,400

Virginia

37,900

$827

$39,977,600

Washington

37,200

$918

$42,273,300

West Virginia

7,200

$921

$7,830,000

Wisconsin

19,900

$781

$19,483,100

Wyoming

3,400

$920

$3,766,100

Totals

1,418,300

$861

$1,518,154,900

 

 

 

*excluding credits

If you think some of this unclaimed tax cash is yours, be sure to file your 2016 return by July 15.

And it bears repeating: Miss this deadline and you forever forfeit that year’s unclaimed refund.

 

 

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