The Internal Revenue Service announced last week that nearly 940,000 Americans haven’t filed their 2020 tax return. The IRS estimates that 3,700 Alaskans are owed more than $4 million in unclaimed refunds.
IRS spokesperson Rodney Bearman said if you didn’t file your taxes for 2020, you could have a refund waiting for you. He said the average estimated refund for Alaskans who haven’t filed is over $900.
He said the number of late-tax filers fluctuates each year.
“There are plus or minus a million to a million and a half people that do not file for some reason or another and every individual’s circumstances vary greatly,” Bearman said.
Taxpayers typically have three years to file and claim their tax refund before it becomes property of the U.S. Treasury. The 2020 deadline was extended to May, 2024 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bearman said there’s more than $1 billion in total unclaimed refunds from the 2020 tax year. He said the estimate doesn’t include credits, like the earned income tax credit or recovery rebate credit. In 2020, he said the earned income tax credit was worth up to $6,600.
“Because 2020 was a year that COVID adversely impacted many taxpayers, some would be eligible for the recovery rebate credit,” he said. [That] would add even more money to that refund if those non filers chose to file before the deadline.”
The deadline to submit a return for 2020 is May 17. Berman recommends that those planning to file start gathering key documents, like income statements and expense receipts.
The deadline to file your 2024 taxes is Monday, April 15.
