unclaimed property in Pennsylvania

[bal4469]

I am working taxes and the person has informed me they received $55,000 unclaimed property from the state of PA.  It is a result of charles schwab turning their investments over to the state.   I am trying to confirm what type of account  it was, regular investments or and roth IRA.  I can't imagine this is fully taxable but I have no idea where to start.  Any advice?  Thank you Beth

[tagteam]

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@bal4469 wrote:

I am working taxes and the person has informed me they received $55,000 unclaimed property from the state of PA.  It is a result of charles schwab turning their investments over to the state.   I am trying to confirm what type of account  it was, regular investments or and roth IRA.  I can't imagine this is fully taxable but I have no idea where to start.  Any advice?  Thank you Beth

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Yes, use caution! Who is this "person" that informed you they "received $55,000" (when you were "working taxes") and why did Schwab turn investments "over to the state"? 

This almost sounds like some sort of scam. You can check out whether you have unclaimed property with the State of Pennsylvania at the link below. Regardless, make sure you are working with someone reputable.

https://www.patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property/

[bal4469]

it is my best friend of 45 years and i have seen all the paperwork

[bal4469]

I was looking for advice in how to research this.   Has anyone had to deal with this.

Thank you for the warning but it is real. 

[tagteam]

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@bal4469 wrote:

I was looking for advice in how to research this.   Has anyone had to deal with this.

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Were you able to locate it (by entering the information, primarily your name) on the state web site? 

I am hoping someone will be able to help you or otherwise provide some guidance, but it's a bit confusing as to what kind of advice you need (so that you can "research this") if your best friend of 45 years is the person handling the matter and he (or you) have "all the paperwork".

[bal4469]

do you work for turbo tax? your use of "quoting everything" is kind of insulting.

I am working on the taxes, it is my friend.  I am asking for advice if this could somehow be taxable. If you do not know, please stop commenting. 

thank you.

[tagteam]

I did not intend the quotation marks as an insult, but rather a way of trying to elicit further information (of which I actually made inquiry in my first response).

My point was (and is) that no one can tell you whether or not the $55,000 is taxable, for a fact, unless you provide further details. Unless there are extremely unusual circumstances, however, receiving/recovering the funds from the state (if they were inherited, lost/unclaimed, or otherwise owned by you) would generally not be a taxable event.

[re2boys]

Your best bet for determining the tax nature of this recovered property is the owner of the property, your best friend, as they are the one's who provided the necessary proof to convince the state of PA to send them the check.  The brokerage firm is required to report the abandoned/lost property after three years of no contact by the owner.  Hopefully your friend can provide some statements or tax documents  that can be used to gain some understanding of what assets were in this brokerage account.  This would give some info as to account numbers, broker that they dealt with, or they may be able to request the information from the brokerage itself.  Most brokerage that I'm familiar with can electronically access account information going back at least seven years.  Your friend will need to either provide more information or approach Charles Schwab for help in researching the account (s).