Login | April 23, 2026
Last Call for Taxpayers to Get Refunds for 2022
JULIE JASON
Published: April 23, 2026
There are more than 1.3 million people who have not claimed 2022 tax refunds worth an estimated $1.2 billion (tinyurl.com/mpcpdeyx), according to the IRS. The deadline for filing for a 2022 refund is April 15.
Some of these refunds are actually tax credits. As explained by a 2022 Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago publication, many families eligible for refundable tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC), do not claim them (in part by not filing a federal income tax return), and, "as a result, do not receive potentially large cash benefits to which they are entitled" (tinyurl.com/2p9epu3).
IRS statistics for 2022 show that the national participation rate for eligible taxpayers claiming the EITC was approximately 80.8% (tinyurl.com/36tjp3h7).
The IRS notes that the EITC was worth up to $6,935 in tax year 2022 for low- and moderate-income taxpayers with qualifying children. (The CTC was worth up to $2,000 per qualifying child.)
The income thresholds for EITC in 2022 were:
-- $53,057 ($59,187 if married filing jointly) for those with three or more qualifying children;
-- $49,399 ($55,529 if married filing jointly) for people with two qualifying children;
-- $43,492 ($49,662 if married filing jointly) for those with one qualifying child, and;
-- $16,480 ($22,610 if married filing jointly) for people without qualifying children.
You can find more information about the EITC (tinyurl.com/4haknnxp) and the CTC (tinyurl.com/2s43ry99) at their respective IRS.gov webpages. Details of other tax credits (including the Credit for Other Dependents and the Adoption Credit) also can be found at IRS.gov (tinyurl.com/2kv62nns), and the IRS Interactive Tax Assistant tool (tinyurl.com/cyuxwj39) can help you determine if you are eligible for the credits.
The amount of unclaimed funds has remained relatively consistent for the tax years 2018 through 2022. For example, the total worth of unclaimed funds has ranged between $1 billion and $1.5 billion per year, while the median amount per taxpayer has varied between 2022's low of $686 to 2020's high of $932, and only in 2020 (940,000) was the number of people with unclaimed refunds below 1 million.
Two states for tax-year 2022 have more than 100,000 individuals (estimated) who are entitled to a tax refund: California (143,200) and Texas (126,000). Those two states combined have a total potential refund amount of more than $236 million -- nearly 20% of the total. In my home state of Connecticut, there are 12,800 individuals with a potential refund total reaching nearly $12 million.
If this applies to you, you'll need to claim your refund by filing your 2022 tax return. To get the appropriate 2022 Form 1040, go to the IRS.gov Forms & Instructions webpage and select "Prior Year" (tinyurl.com/29j3dxhc) or call 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).
If you are missing key documents (such as W-2s and 1099s), you can request copies from your employer, bank or other payers. Additionally, you can order a free wage and income transcript by using the Get Transcript tool at IRS.gov (tinyurl.com/4c487puz). If you don't have an individual online IRS account, you will need to create one.
The IRS points out that those seeking a 2022 tax refund may have their funds held if they have not filed tax returns for 2023 and 2024. Additionally, any 2022 refund "will be applied to amounts still owed to the IRS or a state tax agency and may be used to offset unpaid child support or other past due federal debts, such as student loan debts."
If you need to file for 2022, don't wait. To get assistance, try using the IRS's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly Locator tool (tinyurl.com/yjexbb8k) or the AARP Tax-Aide Site Locator tool (tinyurl.com/5n973dzb), both found on the IRS.gov website.
Seasoned investment counsel (tinyurl.com/52nus8hz) and award-winning columnist and author, Julie Jason, JD, LLM, promotes financial literacy and investor protection. Read her latest book, "The Discerning Investor: Personal Portfolio Management in Retirement for Lawyers (and Their Clients)" (tinyurl.com/4u7h9pjs), published by the American Bar Association. Write to Julie at readers@juliejason.com. While all questions cannot be answered, each email is read and reviewed and can lead to discussion in a future column.
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