Can I still claim my prior year tax refund?

Many taxpayers are unaware that even if they missed a certain tax deadline, they can still claim a tax refund. However, there is a limitation on the amount of tax years going back.

The IRS has a three-year statute of limitations on claiming a prior year tax refund. You must claim the prior year tax refund by the original tax deadline which falls on April 15. Once this deadline passes, your refund expires.

For example, you can no longer claim a 2015 tax refund due to it passing the statute. Since the original tax deadline would be April 15, 2016; since you have until April 15, 2019 to claim your tax refund. Keep in mind, you must postmark your paper return before the 15th.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2020 at 8:19 pm and is filed under Late Tax Filing FAQ. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.