WASHINGTON — About a million people who failed to file 2014 taxes are sitting on more than $1 billion in unclaimed federal income tax refunds, the Internal Revenue Service announced Thursday.
But in order to collect that hefty chunk of cash, they’ll have to dig out those old W-2s and file their 2014 taxes by this year’s deadline — April 17.
“We’re trying to connect a million people with their share of $1.1 billion in unclaimed refunds for 2014,” said Acting IRS Commissioner David Kautter in a statement “Time is running out for people who haven’t filed tax returns to claim their refunds.”
The IRS estimated the median refund stemming from unfiled 2014 returns at $847.
Kauter said students and part-time workers may have overlooked filing their taxes for 2014.
Taxpayers do not face a penalty for filing a late return if they’re due a refund. However, their refund check may be held if they haven’t filed returns for 2015 and 2016. They also may not see their refund if they have unpaid child support, past-due student loan debt or other federal debts.
Ready to bust out the pen and calculator and start filing? You can find all the IRS forms you need on the IRS website.
You’ll need to request copies of W-2s or other forms from your employer. If you can’t get missing forms from your employer, you can request a wage and income transcript for free using the IRS Get Transcript tool.
