{"id":731,"date":"2016-10-27T13:43:56","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T13:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/?p=731"},"modified":"2016-10-27T13:44:45","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T13:44:45","slug":"what-to-do-when-checks-go-unclaimed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/what-to-do-when-checks-go-unclaimed\/","title":{"rendered":"What to do When Checks go Unclaimed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/iStock_000070139077_Full-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-733\" src=\"http:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/iStock_000070139077_Full-2-300x242.jpg\" alt=\"account and finance\" width=\"300\" height=\"242\" srcset=\"https:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/iStock_000070139077_Full-2-300x242.jpg 300w, https:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/iStock_000070139077_Full-2-1024x825.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Maybe it was lost, or got tossed out. Maybe the dog ate it. While it may be hard to understand how payroll checks can go uncashed, it happens. Unclaimed wages (and other property, such as commission checks, shareholder dividends, checks to vendors, and unredeemed gift cards) create problems for businesses \u2014 and revenue opportunities for cash-strapped state governments. That could be an unfortunate combination if your company isn\u2019t in full compliance with state law.<\/p>\n<p><strong>When Wages Go Unclaimed<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Generally speaking, businesses are not permitted to hold on to uncashed checks indefinitely. Each state has its own laws regarding unclaimed property, and employers must follow the rules for reporting and remitting such property to the state.<\/p>\n<p>Most states consider unclaimed wages to be \u201cabandoned\u201d after a year. During that period, employers must make a good faith effort to contact the wage earner so the property can be claimed. If these attempts fail, employers must turn over the abandoned wages to the appropriate state agency.<\/p>\n<p><strong>States Want To Know<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To supplement tax revenues, states have generally been stepping up their audit and enforcement efforts regarding abandoned property. For businesses, the cost of noncompliance can be quite high, especially if they haven\u2019t been keeping reliable records. In the absence of records, auditors may \u2014 and often do \u2014 estimate a business\u2019s liability, which may result in an exaggerated assessment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Protect Your Business<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In addition to paychecks, you might have other unclaimed property to contend with, too. Take steps to protect yourself by putting someone in charge of handling your business\u2019s unclaimed property, keeping accurate records, regularly filing required reports of unclaimed property with the appropriate state agency, and promptly turning over any unclaimed property according to state law. Your time and effort will be well spent if it helps avoid costly problems in the future.<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t get left behind. Contact us today to discover how we can help you keep your business on the right track. Don&#8217;t wait, give us a call today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maybe it was lost, or got tossed out. Maybe the dog ate it. While it may be hard to understand how payroll checks can go uncashed, it happens. Unclaimed wages (and other property, such as commission checks, shareholder dividends, checks to vendors, and unredeemed gift cards) create problems for businesses \u2014 and revenue opportunities for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-731","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":734,"href":"https:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731\/revisions\/734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlyfordentists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}