Taxpayers face April 15 deadline to claim 2010 state refunds

An estimated 1.2 million California taxpayers who did not file a 2010 state income tax return face an April 15 deadline for claiming refunds, the state Franchise Tax Board announced this week.

FTB said unclaimed refunds from 2010 total more than $160 million. Of those, more than 43,000 non-filers in Sacramento County are eligible for nearly $5 million in refunds. The average Sacramento County refund waiting to be claimed is $114. In other counties, the number of 2010 non-filers and the average refund amounts are: El Dorado (4,384 and $126), Placer (7,373 and $139) and Yolo (5,215, $129).

State tax law provides most taxpayers a four-year window to claim a refund. For 2010 returns, that window closes on April 15. Unclaimed tax refunds revert to the state.

“This money belongs to taxpayers, and FTB wants to do everything possible to make sure they get it,” state Controller and FTB Chairwoman Betty Yee said in a statement.

FTB said taxpayers may have missed out on claiming refunds because they made too little to require filing a tax return in 2010, even though they had taxes withheld from wages or made estimated tax payments. A return must be filed to qualify for a refund.

Taxpayers can call FTB at (800) 852-5711or search under the “forms and instructions” link at ftb.ca.gov.

This story was originally published March 18, 2015 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Taxpayers face April 15 deadline to claim 2010 state refunds."