An Aussie woman has shared her surprise at receiving a “second tax refund” from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Aussies are being urged to check their accounts with billions of dollars in lost cash “waiting to be found”.

The Aussie shared a text message she received from her bank, ANZ, telling her tax refund had arrived and she received $198.07 from the ATO into her account. She said she was confused by the message as she had already done her tax return in July and received a $900 refund.

“I thought it was a scam, but I checked my bank account, and the money is there,” she wrote.

“I'm very confused. I checked MyGov and I cannot find anything about this second tax return. Only the original one comes up on the lodgement page and history.”

RELATED

• ATO's $16 billion warning as Aussie businesses push back on cashless trend: 'Had enough'

• Major Centrelink payment update for millions following ‘landmark investment’

• ATO's urgent warning to millions of Aussies ahead of major myGovID change: ‘Targeting’

The Aussie said she later spoke to someone from the ATO and was told the payment was “unclaimed super money”.

“Upon further investigation it looks like a super account from a previous job that I forgot about was closed down and they sent the money back to me,” she said.

An ATO spokesperson told Yahoo Finance it was unable to comment on the Aussie’s specific case for confidentiality and privacy reasons.

However, it has urged Aussies to check if they have lost or unclaimed super.

Do you have a story to share? Contact tamika.seeto@yahooinc.com

Billions in lost money waiting to be claimed

The ATO said there is $17.8 billion of lost superannuation from more than 7.1 million accounts that’s waiting to be claimed. That’s based on data from June 30, 2024.

This includes unclaimed superannuation that has been transferred to the ATO, plus inactive and uncontactable accounts held by super funds.

ATO deputy commissioner Emma Rosenzweig has urged Aussies to check if some of the cash belongs to them.

“Since 2021, the ATO has reunited almost $6.4 billion of unclaimed super with its owners. But there is still more than $17.8 billion waiting to be found,” she said.

“If you’ve changed job, moved house or simply forgotten to update your details, you may have lost or unclaimed super.

“Even if you’ve retired you could have lost or unclaimed super. The ATO is holding $471 million on behalf of people aged 65 plus.”

How to check for lost super

You can check for lost super by logging into the ATO’s online service portal through myGov.

Select ‘Super’ and then ‘Fund details’. This will show you if you have any forgotten or lost super.