Unclaimed Federal Tax Refunds for Tax Year 2017

April 6, 2021

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 $1.3 billion — that was never sent to around 1.3 million individual taxpayers.

The reason? Those folks didn’t file tax year 2017 returns back in 2018 to claim their refunds. They have until the 2021 filing deadline, which in this (again) coronavirus-affected tax season is May 17.

As this blog post explains, miss that due date to claim your three-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	21,700	$848	$21,542,300
Alaska	5,000	$960	$5,527,400
Arizona	32,900	$766	$30,655,500
Arkansas	12,600	$811	$12,150,900
California	132,800	$833	$129,793,500
Colorado	27,000	$813	$26,020,400
Connecticut	13,200	$928	$13,945,100
Delaware	5,200	$853	$5,254,600
District of Columbia	3,600	$878	$3,765,500
Florida	89,600	$870	$89,767,400
Georgia	46,300	$791	$44,234,300
Hawaii	7,600	$913	$7,827,400
Idaho	6,200	$727	$5,572,300
Illinois	49,000	$901	$50,355,300
Indiana	30,800	$894	$31,291,100
Iowa	13.500	$922	$13,851,800
Kansas	13,400	$865	$13,313,500
Kentucky	17,700	$875	$17,612,600
Louisiana	21,700	$837	$21,659,900
Maine	5,300	$853	$5,158,000
Maryland	26,700	$872	$27,241,700
Massachusetts	28,000	$978	$30,469,100
Michigan	43,100	$863	$43,189,3000
Minnesota	20,400	$808	$19,400,200
Mississippi	11,800	$776	$11,087,800
Missouri	30,500	$831	$29,778,200
Montana	4,400	$808	$4,255,500
Nebraska	7,200	$853	$6,982,000
Nevada	15,500	$845	$15,310,600
New Hampshire	5,900	$968	$6,391,000
New Jersey	34,200	$924	$35,778,700
New Mexico	9,000	$837	$8,913,100
New York	66,700	$956	$71,361,600
North Carolina	43,500	$837	$42,307,200
North Dakota	3,600	$958	$3,779,100
Ohio	48,700	$852	$47,892,500
Oklahoma	19,800	$869	$19,890,300
Oregon	21,200	$765	$19,733,900
Pennsylvania	50,900	$931	$52,861,200
Rhode Island	3,600	$921	$3,792,500
South Carolina	16,800	$768	$15,740,900
South Dakota	3,600	$768	$3,665,500
Tennessee	27,100	$851	$26,534,100
Texas	133,000	$904	$138,355,200
Utah	11,100	$771	$10,251,900
Vermont	2,600	$852	$2,505,200
Virginia	36,600	$827	$36,159,900
Washington	36,900	$928	$38,924,900
West Virginia	6,400	$946	$6,769,600
Wisconsin	18,900	$798	$17,759,900
Wyoming	3,100	$944	$3,273,400
Totals	1,345,900	$865	$1,349,654,800
			*excluding credits

If you think some of this unclaimed tax cash is yours, be sure to file your 2017 return by May 17.

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

Posted: Tuesday, April 7, 2021