Don't Miss Out on Refunds the IRS Owes You

When completing a 2008 personal income tax return, look in your personal tax files for your 2005 federal income tax return. According to the Internal Revenue Service, 4,900 West Virginians, who did not file a return in 2005, are owed a total of nearly $4.4 million.

Many of these West Virginians did not file a federal income tax return because they had too little income to be required to file a tax return even though they had taxes withheld from their wages or made quarterly estimated payments. The IRS estimates the average refund for these affected West Virginia taxpayers is $627. When you file a federal return, you also need to file a state return. Therefore if you file a past year or current year return with the IRS, complete and file your state return for the same time period.

The IRS and the West Virginia State Tax Department remind West Virginians to collect their unclaimed 2005 federal tax refund by April 15, 2009. After that date, the statute of limitations expires, and the unclaimed money becomes property of the U.S. Treasury.

Taxpayers seeking a 2005 refund will have their checks held if they have not filed tax returns for 2006 or 2007 with the federal government. In addition, the refunds will be applied to any amounts owed to the IRS, the West Virginia State Tax Department, child support or other past due federal debts such as student loans.

Current and prior year tax forms and instructions are available at www.irs.gov or by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676). State tax forms are available at www.wvtax.gov or at your local Taxpayer Services location.

Nationwide, the IRS estimates over a million people are eligible to claim their piece of $1.3 billion in uncollected refunds. For more information, see IRS Release IR-2009-16, March 3, 2009 at: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204931,00.html

To learn more about other personal income tax filing tips from the West Virginia State Tax Department, visit www.wvtax.gov.