State-by-State breakout of possibly forfeited refund money
The Internal Revenue Service is holding a vast amount of money in 2024 in old, unclaimed tax refunds. Once again, it is more than $1 billion that was never sent to almost 940,000 across the United States.
The reason? Those folks didn’t ask for it years ago.
They neglected or forgot to file tax year 2020 returns back in 2021 to claim their refunds. They now have until May 17, 2024, to get their money.
Wait, I hear tax-savvy long-time readers asking, why isn’t this unclaimed refunds deadline on this year’s regular Tax Day? Because the legally-mandated three-year window that’s open for claiming old refunds is based on the missing year’s return filing deadline.
In 2021, tax year 2020 returns were once again delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was pushed to May 17, 2021. So the three year opportunity ends on May 17, 2024.
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. So, since the 2021 deadline was May 17, the last chance to claim those 2020 tax year refunds is by this May 17.
Miss this May 17, 2024, filing deadline, and Uncle Sam gets to keep the three-year-old refund money. And the tardy filers will 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 |
15,200 |
$926 |
$16,839,800 |
|
Alaska |
3,700 |
$931 |
$4,335,300 |
|
Arizona |
25,400 |
$871 |
$26,939,600 |
|
Arkansas |
8,700 |
$923 |
$9,392,600 |
|
California |
88,200 |
$835 |
$94,226,300 |
|
Colorado |
18,500 |
$894 |
$20,109,900 |
|
Connecticut |
9,800 |
$978 |
$11,343,600 |
|
Delaware |
3,600 |
$945 |
$4,156,500 |
|
District of Columbia |
2,900 |
$968 |
$3,503,800 |
|
Florida |
53,200 |
$891 |
$58,210,500 |
|
Georgia |
36,400 |
$900 |
$39,175,600 |
|
Hawai’i |
5,200 |
$979 |
$5,972,600 |
|
Idaho |
4,500 |
$761 |
$4,369,600 |
|
Illinois |
36,200 |
$956 |
$40,608,000 |
|
Indiana |
19,200 |
$922 |
$20,893,000 |
|
Iowa |
9,600 |
$953 |
$10,601,700 |
|
Kansas |
8,700 |
$900 |
$9,285,600 |
|
Kentucky |
10,600 |
$920 |
$11,236,300 |
|
Louisiana |
15,100 |
$957 |
$17,357,300 |
|
Maine |
3,800 |
$923 |
$4,030,200 |
|
Maryland |
22,200 |
$991 |
$26,365,400 |
|
Massachusetts |
21,800 |
$975 |
$25,071,800 |
|
Michigan |
34,900 |
$976 |
$38,274,800 |
|
Minnesota |
13,500 |
$818 |
$14,043,900 |
|
Mississippi |
8,100 |
$861 |
$8,685,000 |
|
Missouri |
19,500 |
$893 |
$20,803,400 |
|
Montana |
3,400 |
$851 |
$3,632,100 |
|
Nebraska |
4,700 |
$901 |
$5,007,300 |
|
Nevada |
10,200 |
$890 |
$11,143,900 |
|
New Hampshire |
4,200 |
$982 |
$4,923,100 |
|
New Jersey |
24,400 |
$920 |
$27,408,300 |
|
New Mexico |
6,500 |
$868 |
$7,032,700 |
|
New York |
51,400 |
$1,029 |
$60,837,400 |
|
North Carolina |
27,500 |
$895 |
$29,304,100 |
|
North Dakota |
2,200 |
$953 |
$2,482,600 |
|
Ohio |
31,400 |
$909 |
$32,939,900 |
|
Oklahoma |
14,300 |
$902 |
$15,566,900 |
|
Oregon |
15,300 |
$847 |
$15,857,800 |
|
Pennsylvania |
38,600 |
$1,031 |
$43,412,900 |
|
Rhode Island |
2,600 |
$986 |
$2,980,500 |
|
South Carolina |
11,900 |
$840 |
$12,564,900 |
|
South Dakota |
2,200 |
$892 |
$2,346,300 |
|
Tennessee |
16,800 |
$909 |
$18,007,000 |
|
Texas |
93,400 |
$960 |
$107,130,200 |
|
Utah |
7,800 |
$836 |
$8,191,700 |
|
Vermont |
1,700 |
$911 |
$1,818,600 |
|
Virginia |
25,900 |
$914 |
$28,944,600 |
|
Washington |
26,200 |
$976 |
$31,110,300 |
|
West Virginia |
3,800 |
$950 |
$4,130,400 |
|
Wisconsin |
11,800 |
$837 |
$12,139,400 |
|
Wyoming |
2,100 |
$961 |
$2,416,300 |
|
Totals |
938,800 |
$932 |
$1,037,161,300 |
|
|
|
|
*excluding credits |
If you think some of this unclaimed tax cash is yours, be sure to file your 2020 return by May 17, 2024. 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: Monday, March 25, 2024
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