Have you perchance gotten a postcard like this?
You are likely wondering what the heck this all about. ME TOO. So I called the Unclaimed Funds people and tried to get some information.
What are Unclaimed Funds?
Here is the official definition:
Intangible property or accounts within financial institutions or companies—in which there has been no activity generated (or contact with the owner) regarding the property for one year or a longer period. After a designated dormancy period with no activity or contact, the property becomes “unclaimed” and—by law—must be turned over to the state.
So not super helpful. I read that twice and had no idea what, if anything I was supposed to do. I dug a little deeper and found this:
Any payment or credit due to a business association from a business association representing sums payable to suppliers, or for services rendered and sums received by a business association from a business association for the sale of tangible goods or services performed, became exempt from unclaimed funds reporting requirements.
Ok, so what I am reading here is that basically as a business I am not going to have any unclaimed funds. And only businesses are required to file unclaimed funds reports.
So what is the deal??
Ok, so off the record, the Department of Commerce apparently got a new mandate (and budget) to push for unclaimed funds reporting. Somebody somewhere got a bee in their bonnet about hard working Americans blah blah blah. So they pulled the vendor license rolls (confirmed) and sent out these notices. And then everyone freaked out.
What do I do?
Here is the link the Unclaimed Funds people sent me:
https://com.ohio.gov/divisions-and-programs/unclaimed-funds/about-unclaimed-funds
Full Disclosure: That link is beyond useless.
So here is what I found:
https://com.ohio.gov/static/documents/ReportingGuide_12022022.pdf
It’s a little dense but more helpful. It seems to me that the situations under which a small business would have reportable unclaimed funds are pretty rare.
Since I am a CPA and have professional standards I have to meet, now that I know about the whole Unclaimed Funds thing I have to do it. But I can’t tell you what to do.
Jane can you just do this for me?
Sorry, but no.
My best suggestion if you received a postcard or are struggling with this is to call the Unclaimed Funds people and ask them what to do.
614-466-4433