The IRS could unknowingly owe you money without your knowledge.

It’s critical that taxpayers maintain detailed records of their accounts and actions. Not only can these documents be used to submit income taxes and verify expenses in the event of an audit, but it can be used to check if IRS owes you money.

Some common scenarios that people are entitled to money back from the IRS include: undelivered refunds, unclaimed expenses, recent tax credits that were not submitted, and backed interest that they owe you for.

The article below outlines the most common reasons why people are owed money from the IRS and how you may be entitled to it too.

Undelivered Refund

The most common reason why someone would not receive money back from the IRS is that the funds were undeliverable. This is a typical scenario seeing as the refund will need to be delivered to a designated home address for it to be received.

If the person has moved and failed to update their documents then the refund will likely be mailed back to the sender as undeliverable. Further, these documents are sent through the postal office and can become lost in the mail, damaged, or incorrectly delivered which can also result in undeliverable refunds.

Although the IRS is able to issue a replacement if your tax refund has been verified as undeliverable there are a number of things that you can do to prevent one.

To ensure that you are not victim to an undeliverable refund it’s critical that you maintain an up to date record of your address (especially if you are doing taxes manually). Manual submissions can take longer to process when compared to those who issue it with a direct deposit. Therefore, it’s recommended that those who file manually switch to the digital system for a faster and more reliable method for receiving money.

Unclaimed Funds

Another common scenario that causes the IRS to owe money to a person is if the funds go unclaimed. Unclaimed taxes can come as a result of simple mathematical errors when filling out the form. These errors can result in lengthy delays receiving money back or an incorrect refund being issued once it does come in.

To confirm the amount, it’s recommended that you carefully reassess the documents you submitted to confirm nothing was missed. Further, if you are concerned about the amount that was issued consider visiting a financial advisor or specialist to analyze your accounts and ensure the documents you handed in were correct.

Recent Credits

Another common occurrence that can cause the IRS to owe you money is if you failed to claim recent benefits because you were are slightly above the designated limit. However, the IRS does usually submit a partial credit to people in this situation which is why it should be claimed on their income taxes. In turn, allowing them to get some more money back on their return.

Interest

The majority of taxpayers are not aware that the IRS can owe you interest on the amount of money they issued to you. The standard that the IRS follows is that a refund will be received within three weeks of receiving filing. Although this process can take longer if the IRS does not begin to file yours within 45 days of accepting the return they will owe you interest for every additional day it has not.

This can result in money that you are entitled to back from the IRS, especially if you’ve incurred a lengthy delay. However, this process can be difficult to understand which is why it’s best that the paperwork is reviewed by a financial professional.

There are a number of things that people may be entitled to from the IRS without even knowing it. Therefore, it’s critical to be aware of your accounts and financial standing to prevent suffering from unclaimed funds.  If you’d like a personal assessment to see if you’re entitled to money back from the IRS feel free to get in touch with a member of our staff.