Hundreds of you have unclaimed cash out there and you may not even know it.
There are thousands of dollars in unclaimed and undelivered tax refunds, but it must be claimed by tax day, which is April 17 this year. If the money isn't claimed by then, it will remains in the hands of the federal government for good.
According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and 2010 Census data, about 179 people in the Syracuse area have undeliverable refunds due to a change of address. In Onondaga County, there are 91 people with an average undelivered refund of $1,687. In Oswego County, there are 15 people with an average undelivered refund of $460. In Cayuga County, there are 13 people with an average undelivered refund of $478. In Oneida County, there are 39 people with an average undelivered refund of $1,702. There are 7 people each in Cortland, Lewis and Madison Counties due an undelivered refund as well.
Hundreds more failed to file a 2008 return, leaving a median refund of about $686 in the U.S. Treasury instead of in your savings accounts. "There are millions of dollars sitting in Washington that should be in families' checking and savings accounts in Central New York," said Senator Charles Schumer (D, New York). "I want to make sure that all Upstate New Yorkers get every penny that they're owed come tax day, and I want to make it as easy as possible for them to do so. We need to do everything we can to stretch the middle-class paycheck, and making sure that families get the refund they deserve is a big step in that direction. The clock is ticking on this money, but with quick action, hundreds of Central New York could put this money right in their pocket where it belongs."
You have three years to file an old return and claim the refund you're owed, meaning this is the last year more than 60,000 people across New York State can claim the millions of dollars they're owed from 2008.
On Thursday, Schumer launched a new, one-click, countdown clock icon on his website to provide information for people interested in contacting the IRS to see if they're owed a past refund.
