More than $100 million is owed to Victorians and they might not even know it.
Victorians have been encouraged to go online to check whether they are among thousands entitled to $109m in unclaimed money lodged with Victoria’s State Revenue Office (SRO).
The office holds records of money that are unclaimed after 12 months, including refunds, rents and bonds, share dividends, salaries and wages, debentures, interest and proceeds from sales.
The most lucrative potential windfalls belong to a man last listed as living in Box Hill ($882,697) and an Ardeer woman ($259,828).
There are roughly 678,000 entitlements, including 45,653 claims worth $13,633,759 in the City of Melbourne, 36,332 worth $7,516,798 in Stonnington and 35,246 worth $7,103,869 in Boroondara.
The top three largest entitlement pools within regional Victoria are from Mornington Peninsula ($2,811,030), Yarra Ranges ($2,072,196) and Greater Geelong ($1,906,251).
Most of the entitlement records have been held for less than 10 years.
The office also holds winnings from TAB, Tabcorp, Tattersalls and Intralot that are unclaimed for six months or more.
A winning ticket from March 2016 for $2,136,327 is yet to be cashed in.
To search for the unclaimed cash, Victorians will need their name or company name and the address of the lodging organisation would have had on file.
“This is money that belongs to citizens and we want it in their hands,” Treasurer Tim Pallas said.
“If the SRO is holding unclaimed money in your name you’ll know within seconds, and the process for recovery is straightforward.”
Victorian businesses and trustees holding $20 or more in unclaimed money must record and keep the money for at least 12 months before lodging it with the SRO.