Some of the money is owed to clubs or groups that may have since disbanded, says Kevin Pitfield of Baker Tilly Staples Rodway. Picture Supplied
Some of the money is owed to clubs or groups that may have since disbanded, says Kevin Pitfield of Baker Tilly Staples Rodway. Picture Supplied
More than $15 million is sitting in the tax department's coffers waiting for Kiwis to claim it - and that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to unclaimed money in New Zealand.
Inland Revenue figures show more than 17,000 New Zealanders have money waiting for themto claim with the average amount owed $865.
One lucky punter is owed $311,000 and a Miss M Porter is owed 11 separate amounts.
Kevin Pitfield, director of business advice at accounting firm Baker Tilly Staples Rodway said the money largely came from financial institutions like banks as well as solicitors and accountants' trust accounts where money has been deposited and forgotten.
"Essentially the depositor has gone awol."
Some of the money is owed to clubs or groups that may have since disbanded with no one claiming the leftover money.
Pitfield said financial institutions had a six-year cut-off period for inactive bank accounts. After that time they must attempt to contact the account owner and if they get no response must report and transfer it to the IRD.
"There is exceptions with terms deposits and savings accounts." For term deposits the money is transferred if nothing happens on the account six years after the fixed term has expired.
Thousands of Kiwis have unclaimed money sitting at the IRD. Photo/Kenny Rodger.
Pitfield said some of the old trustee savings banks also had a longer timeframe of 25 years.
"Banks need to keep a register of these accounts that are inactive and then notify the customer of that unclaimed money."
That must happen by June 30 of that year and if there is no response they have until September 30 to send the information to the IRD.
The money is then held by the IRD until it is claimed but other than publishing the list of names and how much is owed to those people it has no obligation to try and contact them.
"The IRD does not have to hunt down the person and that is a good thing from a taxpayer point of view. They could burn a lot of money trying to find them," Pitfield said.
People on the list can claim the money by contacting the IRD and identifying themselves. They may also have to prove they have a right to the money if it is under a club or group name.
The current list includes the Mums Army Hockey Club and one simply called "None of the Above".
Pitfield said when it came to a club or incorporated society there were normally rules which were spelled out what would happen to the money should it disband.
But if it was an informal group and there were no rules that could be one of the reasons why no one had claimed the money.
"I suspect it is why there is still some unclaimed money."
Pitfield said it seemed unbelievable that someone could just forget about $300k but it could be the proceeds of a life insurance policy where the person has died and no one has known about it to claim it.
He said it was a reminder to people to ensure others were aware of any life insurance they had or investments.
"For people who die without executors there is potentially nobody to know they had those policies."
The IRD's unclaimed money does not include tax refunds which have yet to be paid out or unpaid corporate dividends, or unclaimed money from corporate liquidations which are held separately.
"Whilst there is a significant amount of money on that list it is not the only list of unclaimed money."
The Treasury has a full list of all the areas where there can be unclaimed money and what happens to the money if it isn't claimed.
