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Unclaimed Property
When a check goes uncashed, the money isn’t immediately yours. Unclaimed property, or escheatment, still belongs to whomever you were trying to pay – and every state and US territory has different requirements for what you do next. Failure to adequately document your search for the payee can result in massive fines. (In many states, these penalties are one of the largest sources of revenue for states, behind only income, property and sales taxes.)
The more than 100 articles below can keep you current on those due diligence laws to prepare you for your next Unclaimed Property audit.
A smaller firm doing business with a few vendors in a few states can get a fairly good handle on the unclaimed property laws with which it must comply. However, for large companies, escheatment brings… Read More
There are some good reasons for achieving compliance with escheatment statutes, besides the fact that they are the law and you are subject to fines and penalties if you don’t. Here are some of the… Read More
When Bankers Trust was fined $50 million for failing to escheat several years ago, corporate ears perked up. Many wondered, "What is escheatment?" Others began asking, "What are the ground… Read More
Unclaimed property laws vary by state and are continually evolving. If you are being audited, or are trying to proactively mitigate the risk of an unclaimed property audit, IOFM suggests contacting an… Read More
Unclaimed property responsibilities often fall on the Account Payable (AP) department’s shoulders because much of what must be escheated is generated by AP.
The escheated property often takes the… Read More
Voided checks with backup must be retained to meet the 7-10 year requirement, plus any additional
… Read MoreAccounts payable professionals would be wise to be aware that a new draft of the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (UUPA) was approved in July. The revised UUPA (“RUUPA”) will now move on to the
… Read More Unclaimed property regulations are very different from other business regulatory law in that there is no statute of limitations and there are lengthy record-retention requirements. Therefore, if your… Read More
This template provides an example of an escheatment policy for unclaimed property handled by the AP Department. Microsoft Word
… Read More
This template is an example of a letter sent to a vendor addressing unclaimed property. Microsoft Word
… Read MoreWhat are you waiting for?
