Inland Revenue Set For Seven-Figure Pay-Out As It Publishes 2004 Unpaid Monies List

Inland Revenue urges the public to check the Unclaimed Monies list featured in this week’s Sunday News or at the Department’s website, which provides details of abandoned or forgotten money.

Acting chief financial officer Vanessa Johnson says there are 7,853 names on the list and the average amount unclaimed is $793.29. In total, the Department is holding around $6.2 million in unclaimed money for the 14 month period ending April 2004. “Most of the unclaimed money comes from deposits left in financial institutions such as insurance proceeds. It also includes unclaimed funds such as cheques or wages,” says Ms Johnson.

The largest single amount of unclaimed money to a company or individual is $79,464.50.

Inland Revenue’s Unclaimed Monies list last year had 1,551 names, with a total amount of just under $1.5 million. Over the past 14 months Inland Revenue has paid out more than $1m to 338 people who have come forward as a result of the publicity in 2003 and previous years.

People who believe they are entitled to unclaimed money are advised to forward their name, address, IRD number, proof of identity such as a copy of a birth certificate, driver’s licence or passport, and evidence that they have dealt with the person or organisation who paid the money in to:

Unclaimed Money, BusinessDirect, Inland Revenue, PO Box 895, Wellington.

Amounts go back some time, as the Unclaimed Monies Act 1971 provides that any unclaimed money is only paid to Inland Revenue if it has been untouched for six years or more. There is no time limit to when money can be claimed.

Initially it is the responsibility of the institutions holding the funds to make every effort to locate the proper owner of the money. If they cannot locate the person, the money is paid to Inland Revenue.

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