Proposal to Expand the Earned Income Credit

The IRS is holding refunds totaling $760 billion for about 918,600 taxpayers who did not file their 2010 returns. The last day to file and claim the outstanding refunds related to these returns is April 15, 2014. Returns and schedules for 2010 can be found at www.irs.gov.

Many of the refunds relate to income tax withheld from wages of taxpayers who did not file returns, perhaps because their income was below their filing threshold. Others entitled to refunds include those eligible for the earned income tax credit, which is payable in excess of tax liability; such individuals may not have known that they had to file a return in order to claim the tax credit.

The IRS also warns that anyone who timely files a 2010 return but owes certain payments, such as child support, past due federal student loans, or outstanding federal taxes, will have these debts offset by their refunds. They’ll receive only the excess refund, if any.

Source: IR-2014-30, 3/19/14