IRD makes list of people owed money

Thousands of people could be better off than they thought, because of unclaimed money being held by the taxman.

The IRD has released an online list of 15,200 people, all of whom are due a pay-out.

Between them they are owed $14,427,789, most of which comes from funds left untouched in banks and other financial institutions. It is not tax refund money, but often comes from sources such as insurance pay-outs and forgotten wages.

IRD has records detailing more than 84,000 cases of unclaimed money totalling more than $51 million dating back to 1973. The online records are from October 2005 to February 2009.

The online list of names can be found at www.ird.govt.nz/unclaimed-money/

- Newstalk ZB