IRS owes $93 million to residents in the region

Thousands of taxpayers who failed to file returns in 2006 have until April 15 before they lose their refunds forever.

More than 92,000 people in the Delaware Valley have lost out on hundreds of dollars in tax refunds because they failed to file taxes in 2006.  More than $93 million will go to the U.S. Treasury if those taxpayers don’t file a 2006 return by April 15, 2010.

In Pennsylvania, 47,100 residents are owed $45 million.  39,900 New Jersey residents are still owed $43 million and 5,200 in Delaware are due $5.3 million dollars.  The median estimated refund for all three states is more than $600.

The IRS says many of those who didn’t file may not have been required to file in 2006 because they didn’t make enough money, but they still had taxes withheld from the wages.  The law requires the IRS to give most taxpayers a three year period to file a claim for a refund, after that the money goes to the government.

Tax forms for both current and previous years are available on the IRS website.