Are You One Of 9,800 CT Residents Owed Money By The IRS?

CONNECTICUT — Tax Day was yesterday — did you file on time?

Better question: Are you one of the thousands of Connecticut residents who still haven't claimed their tax refunds from 2020?

The IRS recently announced that nearly a million people nationwide haven't claimed their refunds for the 2020 tax year. That includes 9,800 Connecticut residents owed $11.3 million, according to the agency.

You may have had plenty of reasons not to file your tax returns in 2020 — it was 2020, after all — but if you didn't file and you were due a refund, your window to grab that cash is closing fast.

Every year, IRS officials say, about $1 billion to $1.5 billion in refunds goes unclaimed, compared with about $300 billion in refunds paid

"We want taxpayers to claim these refunds, but time is running out for people who may have overlooked or forgotten about these refunds," IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said.

Under federal law, taxpayers normally have three years to file and claim their tax refunds until that cash becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury.

But the deadline was extended for 2020 returns due to the pandemic — taxpayers now have until May 17 to claim their 2020 refunds, according to the IRS.

“People faced extremely unusual situations during the pandemic, which may have led some people to forget about a potential refund on their 2020 tax returns,” Werfel said. “People may have just overlooked these, including students, part-time workers and others. Some people may not realize they may be owed a refund. We encourage people to review their files and start gathering records now, so they don’t run the risk of missing the May deadline.”

The median amount of the unclaimed 2020 refunds is $932, the IRS estimates. For Connecticut residents, the median unclaimed windfall is $978.

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In addition to making sure the money goes back into one's pocket, taxpayers have another reason to make sure they complete their 2020 returns, the IRS says.

Low- and moderate-income workers may be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit — which was worth as much as $6,600 for taxpayers with children in 2020.

Those who need to file their 2020 returns should request their W-2, 1098, 1099 or 5498 from their employer or bank, or order a free wage and income transcript with the IRS' Get Transcript Online tool, the IRS said.

Further instructions are available at the IRS website or by calling 800-829-3676.

With Patch editor Chris Lindahl