Did you know that Colorado businesses, including banks, financial institutions and business entities of all types, are required to file reports and turn over unclaimed property when the business holds unclaimed property of customers, employees and others?
Colorado’s reporting requirements for the November 1, 2014 deadline
For all businesses and governmental agencies that are holders of unclaimed property, a Report of Unclaimed Property is due to the Colorado Department of Treasury on November 1, 2014, for the reporting period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014. The only exception to this reporting period is for life insurance companies that must report on a calendar year reporting period. If your business does not hold unclaimed property during a particular reporting year, no report is required. However, some businesses may choose to file a report even if no report is required, so that the statute of limitations doesn’t remain open.
With the Report of Unclaimed Property, businesses are required to report unclaimed property which was presumed abandoned during the previous 5-year period. For the report due on November 1, 2014, businesses will report property that was presumed to be abandoned during the period July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2014. Along with the report, businesses must also forward or remit unclaimed property to the State Treasurer. The State Treasurer then acts as the custodian and steward of the property until it is claimed by its rightful owner.
What is unclaimed property?
If the term unclaimed property is new to you, here are some facts about unclaimed property: Unclaimed property is generally intangible property held by a business that has remained dormant or unclaimed by the rightful owner of the property for a period of 5 years from the last customer-initiated contact, generally. The dormancy period for payroll, wages and salary checks is one year. An IRA account becomes unclaimed property three years after the distribution date (when the owner becomes 72 and ½ years old) in most cases.
Common examples of unclaimed property include:
| Checking and Savings Accounts | Utility Refunds | Stocks and Bonds |
| Oil and Gas Royalty Payments | Safety Deposit Boxes | Uncashed Insurance Checks |
| Payroll Checks | Mutual Funds | Money Orders |
| Gift Cards and Certificates | Uncashed Dividends | Security Deposits |
| Uncashed Checks | Customer Refund Checks | Credit Balances |
Special considerations
All items of unclaimed property must be reported. However, like kind items with a value of less than $25 each may be reported in the aggregate. For some types of property, the holder can retain 2% or $25, whichever is more. However, this retainage is not applicable to property reported in the aggregate.
Small businesses with annual gross receipts of less than $500,000 do not need to file a Report of Unclaimed Property until the aggregated amount of unclaimed property exceeds $3,500 or any single item is $250 or more. All other businesses most report annually unless they have no unclaimed property for the year. Businesses must maintain records related to unclaimed property reporting for five years from the due date of the report. Failure to file and remit unclaimed property may result in penalties and interest.
How to notify owners and report unclaimed property
Businesses holding unclaimed property in the amount of $50 or more must send written notice to the owner’s last known address stating that property is being held and may be turned over to the State Treasury. This notice must be sent not more than 120 days before filing the unclaimed property report.
All 50 states have unclaimed property laws. You should report unclaimed property to the state of last known address of the owner. If your records do not include a state of last known address for unclaimed property, you should report to your company’s state of incorporation or to the state of domicile if the business is not incorporated.
The Colorado Treasury encourages electronic reporting of unclaimed property. Following is a link to a page that includes instructions to obtain software for unclaimed property reporting. http://www.colorado.gov/treasury/gcp/holderrep.html
Below are links to the Unclaimed Property Reporting Forms for Colorado:
http://www.colorado.gov/treasury/gcp/images/FormA.pdf
http://www.colorado.gov/treasury/gcp/images/FormB.pdf
If your business has unclaimed property, be aware that a failure to file and remit unclaimed property may result in penalties and interest. And keep in mind that your business must maintain records related to unclaimed property reporting for five years from the due date of the report.
For more information regarding unclaimed property, please give us a call at (719) 630-1186 or consult detailed information on the Colorado Treasury website at http://www.colorado.gov/treasury/gcp/
