ATLANTA — The Internal Revenue Service announced Wednesday that thousands of Georgians only have a few months to get their share of $46.2 million in taxes that went unclaimed in 2019.
The IRS estimates that 48,000 Georgians didn’t claim their refunds in 2019. The median tax refund was around $826.
Federal law states that taxpayers have three years to file and claim the tax refunds. If they don’t, their refunds becomes property of the U.S. Treasury.
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Typically, the deadline to claim old refunds within a three-year period is the same as the normal tax season deadline. However, the deadline 2019 refunds was extended to July 17 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The 2019 tax returns came due during the pandemic, and many people may have overlooked or forgotten about these refunds,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “We want taxpayers to claim these refunds, but time is running out.”
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IRS data shows that Georgia is ninth when it comes to the number of residents and the amount of money that went unclaimed.
It’s not just the normal tax refund that Georgians could lose out on. The IRS says they could also lose out on the Earned Income Tax Credit. For some taxpayers, the credit was worth up to $6,557. These are the groups who are eligible for EITC:
- $50,162 ($55,952 if married filing jointly) for those with three or more qualifying children;
- $46,703 ($52,493 if married filing jointly) for people with two qualifying children;
- $41,094 ($46,884 if married filing jointly) for those with one qualifying child, and;
- $15,570 ($21,370 if married filing jointly) for people without qualifying children.
The agency says taxpayers who are applying for the 2019 refund still need to file tax returns for 2020 and 2021 or their checks may be held.
More information on how to file for the unclaimed refunds can be found on the IRS website.
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