More than 18K Kentuckians can still claim 2019 tax refunds. Don’t miss this key deadline
Time is running out to claim your share of more than $1 billion in leftover refunds from the 2019 tax year.
That’s according to the Internal Revenue Service, which recently announced those who haven’t filed their returns for that year will have until July 17 to do so. After that date, the government gets to keep your money.
“The 2019 tax returns came due during the [coronavirus] pandemic,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement from the IRS April 12, “and many people may have overlooked or forgotten about these refunds. We want taxpayers to claim these refunds, but time is running out. People face a July 17 deadline to file their returns. We recommend taxpayers start soon to make sure they don’t miss out.”
Filers have more time to claim 2019 refund due to pandemic
Normally, taxpayers have three years to file and collect their unclaimed tax refund, and the deadline to do so typically falls in the middle of April. But the pandemic, which was heating up at the height of the 2020 tax season, upended that.
“With the pandemic taking place when the 2019 tax returns were originally due, people faced extremely unusual situations,” Werfel stated. “People may have simply forgotten about tax refunds with the deadline … We frequently see students, part-time workers and others with little income overlook filing a tax return and never realize they may be owed a refund.”
The three-year window for unfiled 2019 taxes was delayed to July 17, according to the IRS. The agency puts the median dollar amount for unclaimed refunds in 2019 at $893.
If you don’t file a 2019 return by the deadline, you’ll be leaving more than just your refund on the table. That’s because many low- and middle-income workers may be eligible for a federal Earned Income Tax Credit, and for 2019, that credit was worth as much as $6,557.
The program helps families and individuals with incomes below certain thresholds. In 2019, those amounts were as follows:
$50,162 ($55,952 if married filing jointly) for those with three or more qualifying children
$46,703 ($52,493 if married filing jointly) for people with two qualifying children
$41,094 ($46,884 if married filing jointly) for those with one qualifying child, and
$15,570 ($21,370 if married filing jointly) for people without qualifying children
In Kentucky, the IRS estimates as many as 18,600 people are owed a 2019 refund, with the median potential refund at $906. Overall, there’s more than $18.5 million in unclaimed refunds for Kentuckians for that tax year.
How to file your 2019 tax return and claim your refund
It has been several years, but there are still ways to get the documents you need to file your 2019 tax return. Be sure to give yourself enough time, however, as some of these methods could take weeks to bear fruit.
According to the IRS, here are your options:
Request copies of your documents. If you’re missing your W-2, 1098, 1099 or 5498 forms for the years 2019, 2020 or 2021, you can request copies from your employer, bank or other payers.
To avoid a phone call, get it online at IRS.gov. This is especially helpful if you can’t get those missing forms from your employer or other payers for whatever reason. Simply order a free wage and income transcript at IRS.gov using the Get Transcript Online tool. For many taxpayers, this is the quickest and easiest option.
Likely the slowest option is to file Form 4506-T with the IRS to request a wage and income transcript. This document shows data from information returns received by the IRS, such as forms W-2, 1099, 1098, 5498 and IRA contribution information. You can use the information from the transcript to file your return. A word of warning, these written requests can take several weeks to process, and the IRS encourages trying other options first.
Do you have a question about taxes in Kentucky for our service journalism team? We’d like to hear from you. Fill out our Know Your Kentucky form or email ask@herald-leader.com.
