Video: Millions in Federal Tax Refunds Unclaimed

[bitsontherun xQm2qYjw]COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Millions of Americans anticipate getting a tax refund each year but the Internal Revenue Service says some taxpayers have left their refund on the table.

The IRS says that over $900 million in federal tax refunds remain unclaimed from the 2009 tax year. Nearly a million people are owed refunds but they only have until April 15th to claim it. The IRS gives taxpayers two additional years to file after each tax year. If the returns aren’t filed, the unclaimed refunds belong to the United States Treasury.

Tom Buckley at the accounting firm T.E. Lott & Company says there are several reasons why people may lose out on their refund.

“If you move and the IRS does not know where you have moved, then they’re not going to know where to send it. You got people who may have died and the family didn’t know that they could file the return and get a refund. Forms may be intimidating to them so they just don’t want to make the extra effort to file it,” says Buckley.

The IRS says 2009 refunds may be delayed if returns were also not filed for 2010 & 2011.

For more information about how to file a tax return, go to www.irs.gov.