Unclaimed Federal Tax Refunds for Tax Year 2019

April 12, 2023

State-by-State breakout of possibly forfeited refund money

The Internal Revenue Service is holding a vast amount of money in 2023 in old, unclaimed tax refunds. Once again, it’s nearly $1.5 billion that was never sent to around 1.5 million individual taxpayers.

The reason? Those folks didn’t ask for it.

They neglected or forgot to file tax year 2019 returns back in 2020 to claim their refunds. They now have until July 17, 2023, to get their money.

Wait, I hear tax-savvy long-time readers asking, isn’t this unclaimed refunds deadline usually on Tax Day three years down the road? Yes. But 2020, the year that 2019 returns were filed, was unusual. You might remember. We were in the crazed early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 filing due date was pushed to July 15, 2020.

As my blog post on this latest batch of unclaimed refunds notes, tax law starts the three-year claiming deadline on the tax due date, not strictly three calendar years. That would be July 15, 2020, but since the 15th this year is on Saturday, it’s bumped to Monday, July 17, 2023.

One thing remains the same, though. If these taxpayers don’t claim their 2019 tax year refunds by this July 17, Uncle Sam gets to keep their refund money. They’ll never get another chance to get it.

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	23,900	$880	$23,694,700
Alaska	6,000	$917	$6,542,300
Arizona	35,400	$824	$33,911,500
Arkansas	12,800	$864	$12,586,100
California	144,700	$856	$141,780,000
Colorado	30,100	$859	$29,514,000
Connecticut	15,400	$934	$16,198,400
Delaware	5,700	$880	$5,754,900
District of Columbia	4,400	$887	$4,550,100
Florida	89,300	$893	$89,530,400
Georgia	48,000	$826	$46,269,000
Hawaii	8,800	$932	$9,197,700
Idaho	7,600	$758	$6,996,000
Illinois	55,800	$916	$6,996,000
Indiana	31,700	$916	$32,115,100
Iowa	15,300	$926	$15,492,600
Kansas	14,600	$913	$14,753,700
Kentucky	18,600	$906	$18,574,200
Louisiana	22,000	$877	$22,274,800
Maine	6,400	$876	$6,197,300
Maryland	31,400	$897	$32,344,500
Massachusetts	35,700	$966	$38,400,900
Michigan	48,500	$888	$48,582,600
Minnesota	23,200	$848	$22,387,800
Mississippi	12,300	$820	$11,836,700
Missouri	31,800	$880	$31,345,700
Montana	5,200	$854	$5,144,900
Nebraska	7,800	$893	$7,745,600
Nevada	15,800	$869	$15,550,300
New Hampshire	6,900	$974	$7,451,800
New Jersey	40,500	$924	$42,035,900
New Mexico	9,600	$867	$9,522,400
New York	81,600	$945	$86,826,200
North Carolina	45,800	$862	$44,426,600
North Dakota	3,700	$958	$3,997,100
Ohio	51,800	$868	$50,234,900
Oklahoma	21,400	$897	$21,770,000
Oregon	23,700	$801	$22,348,900
Pennsylvania	56,000	$924	$57,572,600
Rhode Island	4,300	$924	$4,468,700
South Carolina	18,200	$809	$17,264,100
South Dakota	3,700	$918	$3,746,700
Tennessee	28,100	$924	$27,623,700
Texas	135,300	$924	$142,235,200
Utah	11,700	$845	$11,198,400
Vermont	3,100	$901	$3,036,600
Virginia	42,200	$869	$42,110,500
Washington	42,400	$934	$44,823,200
West Virginia	6,500	$959	$44,823,200
Wisconsin	21,000	$834	$20,003,100
Wyoming	3,300	$949	$3,534,800
Totals	1,469,000	$893	$1,479,913,400
			*excluding credits

If you think some of this unclaimed tax cash is yours, be sure to file your 2019 return by July 17, 2023. Or sooner. You don’t have to wait until the last minute. My previously mentioned post has more on how to claim the old money.

And it bears repeating: Miss this deadline and you forever forfeit that three-year-old unclaimed refund.

Posted: Wednesday, April 12, 2023