There is a ticking clock on getting your tax refund for your 2020 tax return. We only get three years to be able to file a tax return and get our refund. That date usually falls on Tax Day 3 years after the main tax due date. For most years, Tax Day falls on April 15. But 2020 and 2021, if you all remember were a few strange years. We had a pandemic and the world changed dramatically. Along with that change,
the tax deadline was extended. In 2021, it was extended to May 17. Flash forward three years and on May 17, 2024, any refunds from the 2020 tax year return will be forfeited by the taxpayers and the IRS will just keep the money.
The IRS estimates that 940,000 people have not filed their tax returns and may just leave their refund in the hands of the government. The IRS estimates that they may be able to keep nearly $1 Billion of American’s money merely because we the people didn’t do our due diligence on our paperwork. That is a lot of money being lost by a lot of people! And don’t expect a thank you card in the mail for your donation to the government. You may be giving up money that was taken out of your paycheck that rightly should have been given back to you in the spring of 2021. More than that you may be missing out on other credits that should have been given to you as well, such as the Earned Income Credit or the Recovery Rebate Credit. The IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel stated, “There’s money remaining on the table for hundreds of thousands of people who haven’t filed their 2020 tax returns. We want taxpayers to claim these refunds, but time is running out for people who may have overlooked or forgotten about these refunds.” Did you catch that? The IRS commissioner wants you to claim your refund. He does not want you to just let it go to the possession of the IRS. He wants you to have it. Mr. Werfel goes on to say, “People faced extremely unusual situations during the pandemic, which may have led some people to forget about a potential refund on their 2020 tax returns”. People may have just overlooked these, including students, part-time workers, and others. Some people may not realize they may be owed a refund. We encourage people to review their files and start gathering records now, so they don’t run the risk of missing the May deadline. That is great advice from the Commissioner. I will go a step further and say that if you have lost your tax documents from 2020, have no fear, all you need is to log in to your account at IRS.gov. Once you have created an account on IRS.gov, navigate to
the section called “Records”, and then to the section called “Get Transcripts Online”. Choose the reason for “Federal Tax” and don’t worry about not having a customer file number. Under “Wage & Income Transcript” click on the year 2020. You should be able to find every W2 and 1099 form that was filed on you. Download and print that form and find yourself a good tax preparer. Do this quickly and you should be able to get your refund before the IRS keeps it for themselves.
If you are looking for a good tax firm, we would be happy to talk to you. Set up a free consultation with us today and don’t accidentally donate your hard-earned money to the government!
-Tasha Preisner
Tasha Preisner is a licensed Enrolled Agent and Quickbooks Advanced Certified ProAdvisor
