Does the IRS Owe You Money?

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Question: I read that April 18 is the deadline to get a tax refund from previous years. I think I may be owed money from 2013. How do I claim a refund?

13 Smart Uses for Your Tax Refund

Answer: The IRS recently reported that it has more than $1 billion in unclaimed federal income tax refunds for about 1 million taxpayers who didn't file a 2013 federal income tax return, with a median refund value of $763. But the deadline is approaching -- you have only three years to file a return and claim a refund, so you must file your 2013 return by April 18, 2017, to get the money. After that, the money becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury.

Some people who are owed refunds may have been students or part-time workers who didn’t earn enough money in that year to be required to file a tax return. But if you had any taxes withheld from your paychecks, you may be eligible for a refund if you file a return. There’s no penalty for filing a late return if you didn’t owe the IRS any money or are due a refund. You can also file more recent returns to get a refund now.

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Some people who didn’t file a return may also be eligible for the earned income tax credit, which was worth up to $6,269 in 2013 for families with three or more children and an adjusted gross income of less than $51,667 if married filing jointly, or $46,227 for single filers or heads of household. The size of the credit and the income limits to qualify are lower for people with fewer or no children. See the IRS Reminder to Taxpayers Who Haven’t Filed 2013 Returns for that year’s EITC income limits. For more information about the credit, see the IRS’s Earned Income Tax Credit page.

For instructions and links to past years’ tax forms, see the IRS’s Help Yourself by Filing Past-Due Tax Returns.

As the "Ask Kim" columnist for Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Lankford receives hundreds of personal finance questions from readers every month. She is the author of Rescue Your Financial Life (McGraw-Hill, 2003), The Insurance Maze: How You Can Save Money on Insurance -- and Still Get the Coverage You Need (Kaplan, 2006), Kiplinger's Ask Kim for Money Smart Solutions (Kaplan, 2007) and The Kiplinger/BBB Personal Finance Guide for Military Families. She is frequently featured as a financial expert on television and radio, including NBC's Today Show, CNN, CNBC and National Public Radio.