Have you filed your 2008 tax return and claimed your refund yet? If not, you may be one of the more than 1 million people that are owed $1 billion in tax refunds from 2008. The IRS estimates more than half of the refunds are for at least $600.
When is the deadline to claim my 2008 tax refund?
The clock is ticking, so you’d better act fast if you want your share of the cash. You need to file a return for 2008 no later than April 17th, or your luck will run out.
The total tax refunds may be even higher
You might be asking yourself, “how would the IRS know how much there are in unclaimed tax refunds?” If you don’t file a tax return, the IRS does it for you in what is called a substitute for a return or ghost return. The return is constructed based on the income reported by third parties on W-2 and 1099 forms. However, the IRS usually claims the standard deduction for you as they don’t have access to your itemized deductions and the associated supporting documentation. Therefore, there could potentially be than the $1 Billion in reported unclaimed tax refunds as itemized deductions haven’t been applied to these ghost returns.
Why is there so much in unclaimed tax refunds?
In some cases, people earned too little income so they didn’t need to file a tax return, even though they had taxes withheld from their wages, or they made quarterly estimated tax payments.
In other cases, people with low or moderate incomes might not have claimed the maximum Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) of $4,824 for having two or more children. You might have been eligible for the EITC in 2008 if you had two or more children and earned less than $38,646 ($41,646 married filing jointly). The income limit was $33,995 ($36,995 married filing jointly) for those with one child, and $12,880 ($15,880 married filing jointly) for those who were childless.
Do I simply need to file a 2008 tax return to get the money owed to me?
While you just need to submit your return to claim a refund, the money won’t be sent to you unless your financial house is in order. You must have filed your tax returns for 2009 and 2010. And if you owe money to the IRS, your refund will be applied to that balance. It also might be used to offset unpaid child support or federal debts, like student loans.
Will I get in trouble for being delinquent with my 2008 tax return?
The IRS doesn’t levy penalties for filing a late tax return IF you’re owed a refund. If you don’t file by April 17th, you’ll lose out and the money will go to the U.S. Treasury.
More tax questions? Browse answers or ask tax refund questions online.
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