Over $1 Billion in Refunds Available

Have you filed your 2005 Income tax return yet? That is not a typo, I am asking about your 2005 tax return, not your 2008. The reason I am asking, is because I don’t want the IRS to be able to keep over a billion dollars in uncollected refunds. (Of course, used right that might make a small dent in the national debt.)

According to the Internal Revenue Service over 1 million people who may be due refunds did not file a 2005 tax return. The average estimated refund is over $500. If all of those people do not file a 2005 tax return by April 15, 2009, the IRS gets to keep the money. That would be a shame. I am sure you can put the money to better use than the IRS can.

Many of these refunds are due to people that had tax withheld from their paychecks, but didn’t make enough money to require a tax return. Lower income tax payers may also qualify for the Earned Income Credit which could make their refunds even larger.

So if you didn’t file a 2005 tax return because you didn’t think you needed to, you might want to look into it. What is really nice is that the IRS can give you information on how much was reported to them in income and withholding, so you don’t have to dig through all your old papers trying to find your 2005 W-2’s. But you do need to hurry. Your 2005 tax return must be filed by April 15, 2009, or the IRS gets to keep the money.

You can get current and prior year tax forms and instructions on the Forms and Publications web page of IRS.gov or by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676). Information about the Earned Income Tax Credit and how to claim it is also available on IRS.gov. Taxpayers who need help also can call the toll-free IRS help line at 1-800-829-1040.