Unclaimed Tax Refund Deadline: IRS says you need to claim your 2020 money by this date
WASHINGTON - Now that tax day 2024 has come and gone, go to your calendar and draw a big red circle around May 17.
That's the last day to submit tax returns for unclaimed refunds for tax year 2020, which total more than $1 billion nationwide, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
The IRS says the average median refund for 2020 is $932 and almost 940,000 people across the nation have unclaimed refunds for that year.
"There's money remaining on the table for hundreds of thousands of people who haven't filed 2020 tax returns," said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel in a press release last month. "We want taxpayers to claim these refunds, but time is running out for people who may have overlooked or forgotten about these refunds. There's a May 17 deadline to file these returns, so taxpayers should start soon to make sure they don't miss out."
READ MORE: IRS has 940,000 unclaimed tax refunds from 2020 that will expire soon
Typically, taxpayers have three years to file and claim refunds. But the 2020 window was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency which pushed the deadline to May 17, 2024.
Here's the state-by-state estimates of individuals who may be due 2020 income tax refunds.
More information can be found online.
| State or district |
Estimated number of individuals |
Median potential refund |
Total potential refunds * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 15,200 | $926 | $16,839,800 |
| Alaska | 3,700 | $931 | $4,335,300 |
| Arizona | 25,400 | $871 | $26,939,600 |
| Arkansas | 8,700 | $923 | $9,392,600 |
| California | 88,200 | $835 | $94,226,300 |
| Colorado | 18,500 | $894 | $20,109,900 |
| Connecticut | 9,800 | $978 | $11,343,600 |
| Delaware | 3,600 | $945 | $4,156,500 |
| District of Columbia | 2,900 | $968 | $3,503,800 |
| Florida | 53,200 | $891 | $58,210,500 |
| Georgia | 36,400 | $900 | $39,175,600 |
| Hawaii | 5,200 | $979 | $5,972,600 |
| Idaho | 4,500 | $761 | $4,369,600 |
| Illinois | 36,200 | $956 | $40,608,000 |
| Indiana | 19,200 | $922 | $20,893,000 |
| Iowa | 9,600 | $953 | $10,601,700 |
| Kansas | 8,700 | $900 | $9,285,600 |
| Kentucky | 10,600 | $920 | $11,236,300 |
| Louisiana | 15,100 | $957 | $17,357,300 |
| Maine | 3,800 | $923 | $4,030,200 |
| Maryland | 22,200 | $991 | $26,365,400 |
| Massachusetts | 21,800 | $975 | $25,071,800 |
| Michigan | 34,900 | $976 | $38,274,800 |
| Minnesota | 13,500 | $818 | $14,043,900 |
| Mississippi | 8,100 | $861 | $8,685,000 |
| Missouri | 19,500 | $893 | $20,803,400 |
| Montana | 3,400 | $851 | $3,632,100 |
| Nebraska | 4,700 | $901 | $5,007,300 |
| Nevada | 10,200 | $890 | $11,143,900 |
| New Hampshire | 4,200 | $982 | $4,923,100 |
| New Jersey | 24,400 | $920 | $27,408,300 |
| New Mexico | 6,500 | $868 | $7,032,700 |
| New York | 51,400 | $1,029 | $60,837,400 |
| North Carolina | 27,500 | $895 | $29,304,100 |
| North Dakota | 2,200 | $953 | $2,482,600 |
| Ohio | 31,400 | $909 | $32,939,900 |
| Oklahoma | 14,300 | $902 | $15,566,900 |
| Oregon | 15,300 | $847 | $15,857,800 |
| Pennsylvania | 38,600 | $1,031 | $43,412,900 |
| Rhode Island | 2,600 | $986 | $2,980,500 |
| South Carolina | 11,900 | $840 | $12,564,900 |
| South Dakota | 2,200 | $892 | $2,346,300 |
| Tennessee | 16,800 | $909 | $18,007,000 |
| Texas | 93,400 | $960 | $107,130,200 |
| Utah | 7,800 | $836 | $8,191,700 |
| Vermont | 1,700 | $911 | $1,818,600 |
| Virginia | 25,900 | $914 | $28,944,600 |
| Washington | 26,200 | $976 | $31,110,300 |
| West Virginia | 3,800 | $950 | $4,130,400 |
| Wisconsin | 11,800 | $837 | $12,139,400 |
| Wyoming | 2,100 | $961 | $2,416,300 |
| Totals | 938,800 | $932 | $1,037,161,300 |
* Excluding credits.