--- title: Does the IRS Owe You? $1.5 Billion of Unclaimed Tax Refunds Is About to Expire description: Over a million Americans may miss out on a collective $1.5 billion in tax refund money if they don't take action to file 2019 taxes ASAP. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 498 covers: - Taxes - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: A graduate of the University of Florida, Julia has more than eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. In addition to overseeing news and newsletters, she leads Money’s tax coverage, which includes extensive reporting on tax credits, policy changes and the IRS. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Taxes - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2023-07-03T12:07:58.000Z' section: Taxes tags: - News - Taxes word_count: 715 canonical: https://money.com/unclaimed-tax-refunds-2019-deadline/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo Illustration of a Person closing a safe filled with dollar bills while people are coming in from different sides holding a piece of paper](https://img.money.com/2023/06/News-IRS-Tax-Refunds-Deadline.jpg) The IRS may owe those who didn’t file their 2019 [taxes](https://money.com/tag/taxes/) hundreds of dollars — but the deadline to claim that money is fast approaching. Some 1.5 million taxpayers have yet to submit their 2019 taxes, which were due in July 2020, and the IRS is holding nearly $1.5 billion worth of unclaimed refund money with an expiration date of July 17. "Many people may have overlooked filing a 2019 tax return due to the pandemic," said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel [in a statement](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/time-is-running-out-taxpayers-missing-1-point-5-billion-in-refunds-for-2019-must-file-by-july-17). "We don't want people to miss their window to receive their refund." ## File your taxes and get your maximum refund ### Using a Tax Preparation Software like TurboTax can help make the tax filing process easier, more efficient, and potentially more beneficial for your bottom line. Click your state to get started today! [File Your Taxes](https://money.com/pr/r9ebd0b02214?ap_referrer=%2Funclaimed-tax-refunds-2019-deadline%2F) ## How much money the IRS may owe you The median unclaimed tax refund amounts to almost $900 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](https://money.com/how-to-file-back-taxes/) before the deadline. Those back taxes for 2019 must be postmarked by July 17. 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. Typically, the deadline to claim old tax refunds is in April, but the tax filing deadline for 2019 taxes was [pushed](https://money.com/when-are-taxes-due-2020-get-refund/) into July 2020 because of the pandemic. Hence the July 17 due date. But some taxpayers could lose out on more than just the $900 or so. Many low- and middle-income folks could also be eligible for the earned income tax credit for 2019. That year, the EITC was worth as much as $6,557 depending on a household’s income and dependents. It [must be claimed](https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/how-to-claim-the-earned-income-tax-credit-eitc) by the same deadline. (This tax credit is refundable and is usually included in a tax refund, but in calculating the typical unclaimed refund amount, the IRS excluded tax credits. That means that by missing the deadline, some people could be leaving upwards of $7,400 on the table.) ## How to claim your 2019 tax refund To claim your tax refund, you will need to manually file back taxes for 2019. The IRS does not allow taxpayers to electronically file their back taxes through [IRS Free File](https://money.com/how-to-file-taxes-for-free/?ref=/unclaimed-tax-refunds-expiring/) or with self-preparation [tax software](https://money.com/best-tax-prep-software/). That means you must file your 2019 taxes on paper. Here’s what you need to do: - **Gather your income information.** Review your documents to determine what you have and what is missing for 2019. 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 2019 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](https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-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 2019's 1040, 1040-SR or 1040-NR forms. These are searchable [in the IRS’s form archive](https://www.irs.gov/prior-year-forms-and-instructions). - **Mail your return to the proper IRS location.** After completing your 2019 tax return, you will need to sign and mail it to the appropriate IRS location. The [mailing address](https://www.irs.gov/filing/where-to-file-paper-tax-returns-with-or-without-a-payment) for your return depends on where you live. If you need further assistance with your back taxes, you can call the IRS's toll-free number, 800-TAX-FORM. Keep in mind that even if you are owed a 2019 tax refund, it might not result in a nice 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, such as [student loans](https://money.com/get-a-student-loan/). And if you *owe* the IRS money from 2019, you might need to [pay penalties](https://money.com/dont-file-taxes-on-time-consequences/) on top of the past-due amount. ## File your taxes and get your maximum refund ### Using a Tax Preparation Software like TurboTax can help make the tax filing process easier, more efficient, and potentially more beneficial for your bottom line. Click below to get started today! 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