Older people are being encouraged to check if they have money owing to them, with more than half a billion dollars currently sitting with Revenue NSW.
Minister for Finance and Employee Relations Damien Tudehope said with the rise in cost-of-living, many households would undoubtedly appreciate having the money back in their pocket.
“Anyone can search for unclaimed money on the Revenue NSW website. It is a free service offered to get money back into the hands of its owners,” Mr Tudehope said.
“The unclaimed funding held by Revenue NSW includes share dividends, trust accounts, refunds, commissions, deceased estates, and money from a range of other sources.”
Minister for Seniors Mark Coure said more than $501 million is currently unclaimed. While Revenue NSW does try to contact potential owners and connect them with what is rightfully theirs, it is still important to be proactive and check.
“There could be a range of reasons why money might be unclaimed, such as someone could have moved house, have unclaimed cheques, changed banks, or simply forgotten about it.
“I encourage people to use Revenue NSW’s free online service to check. Chances are there could be something owed to them, and it might even help with the household budget.”
Revenue NSW holds unclaimed money until it is claimed. Revenue NSW carries out data matching activities and attempts to contact potential owners of new items received from enterprises.
Examples of money owed
- Sale of property, goods, or services
- Refunds and overpayments from a purchase
- Share dividends
- Deposits and premiums
- Principal and interest
- Expenses
- Cheques that have not been cashed or deposited
- Commissions
- Trust account funds
- Creditors
To search for unclaimed money and learn more about the process, visit https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/unclaimed-money