Pennsylvania Treasury Department, April 3

Reminder to publishers: Report unclaimed property by April 15

The Pennsylvania Treasury Department wants to inform businesses, financial institutions, government officials, and other financial professionals, also known as holders, about unclaimed property reporting, as required by the Abandoned and Unclaimed Property Act (72 P.S. Section 1301.1 et seq.). According to the Act, unclaimed property is any financial asset that has become dormant, meaning no contact has been made with the owner after a given time period. After this time, holders must file an unclaimed property report with the Pennsylvania Treasury Department. Similar to your tax return, unclaimed property reports are filed for the previous calendar year and are due no later than April 15th. Any holder that does not file a report by April 15, 2008, may be subject to penalties and interest.

Some examples of unclaimed property include bank accounts, uncashed payroll checks, accounts payable or receivable checks, credit balances, gift certificates, stocks and bonds, escrow accounts, money orders, travelers checks, utility refunds, safe deposit box contents and insurance proceeds. If your business has any of these items remaining on your books unresolved, upon tolling the applicable dormancy period, such items must be reported as unclaimed property. The dormancy period of most property types is five years, with a notable exception in the area of payroll and commissions, for which the dormancy period is two years. Please note that writing these items off as income does not constitute an account being resolved. The Treasury Department requires a compliance report to be filed, even if your business is not in possession of unclaimed property.

A copy of the Unclaimed Property Act is available on Treasury’s Web site at www.patreasury.org. In addition, you will find reporting instructions, forms, a free link to HRS Pro software (for electronic reporting), a dormancy matrix, and recent legislative changes on the Web site. Treasury has a team of compliance professionals who can help you determine if you have unclaimed property or assist you in filing your report. You may reach them on the holder hotline at 1-800-379-3999, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or via e-mail at unclaimedpropertyreporting@patreasury.org.

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