The IRS may owe those who didn’t file their 2021 taxes hundreds — even thousands — of dollars, but the deadline to claim that money is fast approaching.
Over 1.1 million taxpayers have yet to submit their 2021 taxes, which were due on Tax Day in April 2022. As a result, the IRS is holding more than $1 billion worth of unclaimed refund money with an expiration date of April 15.
The IRS says that the typical unclaimed tax refund amounts to $781, and that sum excludes refundable tax credits for 2021, such as the earned income tax credit that is worth as much as $6,728 that year.
The IRS announcement Tuesday did not mention that the upcoming deadline is also the last day to claim stimulus payments from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) in 2021.
The ARP provided of up to $1,400 for singles and $2,800 for married couples, plus $1,400 for each qualifying dependent. Most people have already received the payment, though some folks who did not file taxes in 2021 may qualify for the Recovery Rebate Credit if they file by April 15.
The IRS and Department of Treasury did not respond to Money’s request for comment.
How much money the IRS may owe you
The median unclaimed tax refund amounts to $781 per person (excluding tax credits). However, the IRS won’t be sending this money out automatically. If you are owed an old refund, you will need to file back taxes to claim it before the deadline.
Those back taxes for tax year 2021 must be postmarked by April 15. Missing this deadline means that your refund will disappear; after three years of a tax refund going unclaimed, it officially “becomes property of the U.S. Treasury,” according to the IRS.
The states with the largest median tax refunds waiting to be claimed include:
- New York: $995
- Pennsylvania: $993
- Rhode Island: $946
- Massachusetts: $936
- Illinois $892
California has the lowest median refund, at $600.
Some taxpayers could lose out on a lot more refund money than that when factoring in potential stimulus money and the earned income tax credit.
How to claim your 2021 tax refund
To claim your tax refund, you will need to file back taxes for 2021. According to the IRS’s website, you can “file your past due return the same way and to the same location where you would file an on-time return.” There are online filing exceptions for IRS Free File and the agency’s new Direct File program.
Some tax software programs will allow you to file previous years’ tax returns but may require you to print out your returns and file by mail (or purchase a version of the program for the previous year you need to file). Tax professionals at brick-and-mortar tax prep companies, such as H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt, can help you, as well.
In short, filing back taxes will likely take a little more leg work than filing the current year’s taxes.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Gather your income information. Review your documents to determine what you have and what is missing for 2021. The specific documents needed will depend on the type of income received that year, such as W-2s for employee wages, 1099-MISCs or 1099-NECs for gig or contract work, and 1099-INTs and 1099-DIVs for interest or dividend income.
- Request your tax transcript for missing income information. If you can’t find all your 2021 tax information, you can obtain your tax transcript for free from the IRS. Simply create or log in to your IRS account online and request a wage and income transcript, which will include the W-2 or 1099 information you need to complete your return.
- Use the correct forms for your return. When filing your back taxes, make sure that you are using the correct year’s form. You may need 2021’s 1040, 1040-SR or 1040-NR forms. These are searchable in the IRS’s form archive.
- Mail your return to the proper IRS location. After completing your 2021 tax return, you will need to sign and mail it to the appropriate IRS location. The mailing address for your return depends on where you live. If the IRS has sent you specific filing instructions by mail, follow those.
For further assistance with your back taxes, you can call the IRS’s toll-free number, 800-TAX-FORM, or visit a local taxpayer assistance center.
Keep in mind that even if you are owed a 2021 tax refund, it might not result in a check in the mail. The IRS says that the refund may first be put toward outstanding tax bills from other years, unpaid child support payments or past-due debts owed to the federal government.
And if you owe the IRS money from 2021, you might need to pay penalties on top of the past-due amount.
More from Money:
How to File Taxes for Free This Year
When Are State Taxes Due? Here Are the 2025 Deadlines
Workers Are Losing Over $4 Billion in Unspent FSA Money a Year
