Are you aware that the State of Georgia requires unclaimed property to be reported and remitted to the Georgia Department of Revenue? Failure to do so can result in the assessment of penalties, fines and even imprisonment.
What makes up “unclaimed property”? Unclaimed property includes outstanding paychecks and other checks, such as payments to vendors that have never been cashed, balances in abandoned bank accounts, accounts receivable that have been overpaid by customers, credit memos that have not been redeemed, unused gift certificates, security deposits and numerous other types of property.
Individuals, corporations, partnerships, non-profit organizations, and other entities are required to notify the owners before remitting the property to the state (at the last address of record). There are different dormancy holding periods for different types of property. For example, unclaimed paychecks should be held for one year before remission to the state. Other types of payments are typically required to be held for five years prior to remission. There are other required holding periods for different types of property.
The notification periods are typically two months after the dormancy holding period is complete. Remittance to the state is due two months after the end of the notification period. The unclaimed properties are reported to the state using Forms UP-1C and UP-2C. These forms are available on the Georgia Department of Revenue website. Twenty-five or more properties are required to be reported using a NAUPA (National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators) formatted CD, using free software available on the NAUPA website www.unclaimed.org/reporting.
You can also check to see if you have unclaimed property belonging to you on the Georgia Department of Revenue website, dor.georgia.gov/unclaimed-property-program, and the NAUPA linked website, www.missingmoney.com. We encourage you to search to see if you have money waiting for you to claim.
