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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a warning that more than a million taxpayers are still eligible to receive a share of more than $1 billion in refundsbut they need to act quickly. Heres what you need to know. Over $1 billion in refunds still to be claimed The refunds are due to people who have yet to file their 2021 tax return. The IRS says the total potential value of the refunds still to be claimed is estimated to be $1,025,336,800. As many as 1,142,000 taxpayers are eligible for part of that payout and the median refund amount is estimated to be $781 per taxpayer, the agency says. That means half of the people who are due refunds will receive more than that amount and half less. The 2021 tax season was an especially chaotic one, as the COVID-19 pandemic had hindered both IRS operations and people’s ability file their taxes on time. The increased burden of pandemic-era stimulus checks, which fell on the IRS to distribute, added to the chaos. April 15 deadline to claim refund is fast approaching The average taxpayer’s 2021 tax return was due in 2022, but as of the IRSs notification earlier this week, 1.1 million taxpayers still need to file that return. However, if they file the return later than three years after it is due, they will lose their right to claim any tax refunds due to them. “Under the law, taxpayers usually have three years to file and claim their tax refunds,” the IRS notes. “If they dont file within three years, the money becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury.” And the three-year deadline for claiming tax refunds associated with a 2021 return is about to pass. That deadline is April 15, 2025just one month and one day away from the time of this writing. The IRS also notes that these people may be missing out on more than just a refund of taxes paid or withheld during 2021. By not having filed their tax returns, they could also be missing out on other refunds, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which could be worth as much as $6,728 for those taxpayers with qualifying children. Refunds due across all 50 states The estimated $1.1 billion pot of refunds still due to taxpayers for the 2021 tax year includes people in every state, according to the IRS. The agency has broken down the estimated number of individuals still due the refund per state as well as the estimated median potential refund due. Full list: State-by-state breakdown of tax refunds still owed The state with the highest estimated number of individuals due a refund is Texas, with 102,200 individuals thought to be due for the refund. The median potential refund in Texas is $810. The state with the highest median potential refund due is New York, which has a potential refund due of $995 per individual. In New York, it is estimated that as many as 73,000 individuals are still due the refund. You can read the IRS’s full advice for claiming the refund due here.
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E-Commerce
If you’ve bought bottled water from Trader Joe’s, youll want to be aware of a recent recall published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Thats because the recall involves water in glass bottles that present a laceration risk. In total, about 61,500 bottles are included in the recall. Heres what you need to know. What is being recalled? The recall involves select lots of Gerolsteiner brand sparkling water sold at Trader Joe’s. The water was manufactured by Gerolsteiner Brunnen GmbH & Co. KG in Germany. Here are the details of the recalled product: Product name: Gerolsteiner 750ml Sparkling Water Bottles Lot numbers: 11/28/2024 L or 11/27/2024 L According to the CPSC notice, the recalled units were sold individually for about $3 per bottle and also sold in cases of 15 bottles. Around 61,500 bottles are thought to be impacted. The large glass bottles can be identified by the white, blue, and red label with the name Gerolsteiner on the front of it. The lot number of the bottle can be viewed on the lower part of the label. According to a separate notice on the Gerolsteiner website, the best-before dates on the products are December 2027. Why is the bottled water being recalled? The reason for the bottled water recall doesnt have to do with the water itself. Instead the recall has been issued because there is a defect with the glass water bottle the sparkling water comes in. That bottle can crack, leading to a laceration hazard. While there is a risk to individuals handling the recalled bottles, the CPSC says that so far, no incidents or injuries have been reported. Where and when were the recalled bottled waters sold? The recalled bottled waters were sold at Trader Joes stores in 12 states between December 2024 and January 2025. Individual bottles retailed for about $3. The 12 states where the bottled water was sold are: Alabama Arkansas Colorado Florida Georgia Kansas Louisiana New Mexico Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee Texas What do I do if I have the recalled bottled water? If you have the recalled bottled water, you should immediately stop using the bottles, says the CPSC. Instead, you should return the bottles to their place of purchase. The CPSC notice notes that you will not need to have your proof of purchase but that the bottle of the product is required in order to receive a refund, which may be in the form of credit or cash.
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E-Commerce
State officials are warning Americans not to respond to a surge of scam road toll collection texts.The texts impersonating state road toll collection agencies attempt to get phone users to reveal financial information, such as credit or debit cards or bank accounts.They’re so-called smishing scamsa form of phishing that relies on SMS texts to trick people into sending money or share sensitive information.Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said she received one purporting to be from the statewide GeauxPass toll system.“It is a SCAM,” Murrill posted on Facebook this week. “If you ever receive a text that looks suspicious, be sure to never click on it. You don’t want your private information stolen by scammers.”Even states that don’t charge drivers tolls have noticed an uptick.“We do not have tolls roads in Vermont but travelers may mistake these scams for actual toll operators in other states,” Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark said in a video public service announcement posted on Instagram.Cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks said last week that a threat actor has registered over 10,000 domains for the scams. The scams are impersonating toll services and package delivery services in at least 10 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario.While Apple bans links in iPhone messages received from unknown senders, the scam attempts to bypass that protection by inviting users to reply with “Y” and reopen the text.A warning last April from the FBI said the texts used nearly identical language falsely claiming that recipients have an unpaid or outstanding toll. Some threaten fines or suspended driving privileges if recipients don’t pay up.The FBI at the time asked those who received the scams to file a complaint with its IC3 internet crime complaint center and to also delete the texts. The FBI didn’t immediately respond to a request for updated guidance Thursday.The story has been corrected to reflect that the FBI did not issue a fresh warning this week on road toll text scams. The FBI warning was issued in April 2024.
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E-Commerce
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