5 Reasons the IRS May Take Away Your Tax Refund

It's a great feeling to complete the year's tax return and discover that you have a nice refund coming to you. Unfortunately, the IRS won't always give you that refund -- and under certain circumstances, the agency can either hold your tax refund temporarily or scrap it altogether. Avoid these situations, or you could get an unpleasant surprise at tax time.

There is a statute of limitations on claiming your tax refund for a particular year. If you don't file a tax return for a year during which you'd normally get a refund, the IRS certainly won't volunteer to send that refund to you. You can go back and file a return for that year, but if you wait more than three years after the return's filing deadline, you'll lose your refund permanently. For example, if your return is due on April 16, 2018, you have to file it by April 15, 2021 to claim any refund for that tax year.

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Source: Fool.com