Unclaimed Moneys

This chapter prescribes procedures that apply to all departments and agencies of the federal government that handle unclaimed moneys belonging to individuals, businesses, or other entities. The unclaimed moneys provisions of this chapter do not apply to funds held in trust for individual Indians, associations of individual Indians, or for certain Indian corporations. This chapter also prescribes procedures for making refunds of collections or other receipts erroneously received and covered into the Treasury.

According to the provisions of 31 U.S.C. § 1322, "Payments of unclaimed trust fund amounts and refund of amounts erroneously deposited," each year on September 30, the Secretary of the Treasury will transfer to the Treasury trust fund receipt account "Unclaimed Moneys of Individuals Whose Whereabouts are Unknown" that part of the trust fund account balance named in 31 U.S.C. § 1321 (a)(1)-(82) or an analogous trust fund established under 31 U.S.C. § 1321 (a)(1)-(82) that has been in the fund for more than one year and represents money belonging to individuals whose whereabouts are unknown. Subsequent claims to the transferred funds shall be paid from the account "Unclaimed Moneys of Individuals Whose Whereabouts are Unknown."

31 U.S.C. § 1322 contains additional procedures of authority for non-trust fund related unclaimed moneys and other collections erroneously deposited that are not properly chargeable to another appropriation.

Agencies must initiate action to clear unclaimed moneys held in their uninvested trust, revolving, and deposit fund accounts for more than one year. Unclaimed moneys are moneys held for rightful owners whose whereabouts are unknown.

Agencies must use account 20X1807, "Refund of Moneys Erroneously Received and Covered (Indefinite)" for expenditures made for collections or other receipts erroneously deposited into Treasury. These collections represent receipts that are not properly chargeable to any other appropriation.

Each quarter, agencies must:

On a quarterly basis, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal Service) posts the summary-level balance by agency and Agency Location Code (ALC) to account 20X6133 (see Treasury Managed Accounts Reports - Unclaimed Moneys). Fiscal Service does not maintain subsidiary ledgers. The agency must maintain its subsidiary ledgers and supporting documentation to ensure an accurate balance. Agencies may contact Fiscal Service with any discrepancies between their subsidiary ledgers and the balances recorded in 20X6133. Agencies that dispute Treasury's recorded amount must do so within 60 days of the date of Treasury's website publication date and must provide supporting documentation within that timeframe so that Treasury can make appropriate adjustments.

3035.10—General

The balance of account 20X6133 represents only moneys that, when claimed, are unequivocally refundable. This account, as originally established, should hold such moneys in trust for rightful owners (as received by government agencies from sources outside the government). Accordingly, items cleared from agency uninvested trust, revolving, and deposit fund accounts for transfer to account 20X6133 must meet all four of the following criteria:

The support for these criteria will remain as an active record with the agency and serve as the subsidiary ledger for account 20X6133. Transfer to miscellaneous receipt account "1060" amounts that do not meet the above listed criteria. Receipt account "1060" will show the prefix of the transferring agency.

The document clearing unclaimed balances to miscellaneous receipts account "1060" must list individually each amount of $25 or more. Agencies must annotate cleared amounts under $25 cleared with the notation, "Unclaimed balances of less than $25.00," and need only show the total amount. They need not identify individual amounts under $25.

3035.20—Balance Transfers - Method and Reporting

Agencies making transfers from the uninvested trust, revolving, and deposit fund accounts to accounts "1060" and 20X6133 must report the transfers with a reclassification on the Classifications, Transactions, and Accountability (CTA) report.

When an agency requests a refund on an item that remains unclaimed, and the amount remains in that agency's account fund balance, disbursing officers must make payments from account 20X6133. A certifying officer located in the requesting agency authorizes any such payment, validating the claims scheduled for payment. Disbursing officers who process payments from account 20X6133 must report the disbursement made from the account on their CTA report. The document “Treasury Managed Account Reports - Unclaimed Moneys” (see Section 3030) must bear the notation "Unclaimed Balances." When clearing balances, agencies must note on the basic supporting documents that they transferred funds for the individual items to account 20X6133.

When agencies can trace the amount subject to refund as erroneously credited to an appropriation account, the agency should charge the refund claim to that appropriation account whether lapsed, current, reimbursable, or nonreimbursable. Agencies may charge account 20X1807 only when depositing collections into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts and the refund is not properly chargeable to any other appropriation.

For example, if an agency has statutory authority to retain collections, but mistakenly deposited collections into miscellaneous receipts, the agency should reverse the transaction by debiting miscellaneous receipts and crediting its statutorily authorized account. The debiting of miscellaneous receipts may require a backdated transaction to the applicable prior year. If so, agencies must coordinate with the Office of Management and Budget for proper guidance. Refer to the Treasury Financial Manual bulletin Using the Prior-Year Adjustment Attribute Required by the Governmentwide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance System (GTAS) for Reporting, Submitting, and Tracking Treasury Backdated Documents.

By contrast, if an agency erroneously collects moneys from a payor and deposits those funds to miscellaneous receipts, but a court subsequently determines that the funds should not have been collected from the payor and orders the U.S. Government to refund the amounts collected, 20X1807 can be utilized for the refund only if the refund cannot be properly chargeable to another appropriation. See the Government Accountability Office's Red Book, which provides helpful guidance regarding refund of moneys erroneously received and covered into the Treasury.

Agencies are responsible for the validity, accuracy, and legality of any charges to account 20X1807 and for retaining documentation of the appropriation account and amount erroneously credited.

Agencies initiating payments from account 20X1807 must ensure the payments are certified by an agency certifying official and then they must report the payments on their CTA report. If the agency wishes to charge account 20X1807 for over $100,000, the agency must provide an official refund request letter signed by the agency's authorized official or Certifying Financial Officer (CFO), to the Agency Reporting and Analysis Division (see Contacts) prior to initiating the withdrawal. Agencies withdrawing any amount from 20X1807 must report this activity on their monthly CTA report.

Agencies must audit accounts 20X6133 and 20X1807. They must include these audits in their internal audit program.

Agencies must maintain adequate records in support of moneys held for rightful owners in account 20X6133. Agencies must retain individual records of all items transferred to the miscellaneous receipts account “1060” according to the agency's retention policy, but in any event, not less than 7 years. In addition, agencies must:

Fiscal Service may, from time to time, request reports on transactions or balances pertaining to accounts 20X6133 and 20X1807.

Direct inquiries concerning this chapter may go to:

Agency Reporting & Analysis Division 
Bureau of the Fiscal Service

TMAS@fiscal.treasury.gov