Both the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (WDOR) and the Minnesota Department of Commerce (MDOC) both have an unclaimed property program. The programs for both states are quite similar. The biggest differences are the dormancy periods and the reporting and remitting.
Unclaimed property is any financial asset that hasn’t had owner activity for a period of one year or more, and the holder of the asset is not able to contact the owner. Examples include but are not limited to savings and checking accounts, uncashed dividends, stocks and mutual funds, customer deposits or overpayments, certificates of deposit, and wages.
The states require businesses and other organizations to review their records annually to determine if they hold any funds that have gone unclaimed for the required dormancy periods. Each state requires the business to attempt to locate the holder of the property during the dormancy period. Any holders of unclaimed property are required to file a report and remit the property to the respective state.
The WDOR allows holders to file the unclaimed property reports using either UP Exchange, HRS Pro software, or the excel spreadsheet. The first two can be found on the WDOR’s website https://www.revenue.wi.gov/ucp/index.html under Holder-Online Services and Resources – NAUPA Reporting Resources, while the spreadsheet can be found at https://www.revenue.wi.gov/ucp/index.html under Resources – Spreadsheet template.
The MDOC allows holders to file the unclaimed property reports manually by cd or online submission. The manual reporting must include the Verification (UP-H) form and all or one of the following: Currency (UP-C), Securities (UP-S) or the Safe Deposit Box (UP-SD) forms. The CD submission must include a report generated using either of these software: ACS Wagers or UP Exchange and must be submitted with the Verification UP-H form. The online submission requires a holder to use either the ACS Wagers or the UP Exchange software.
Information for Wisconsin’s unclaimed property can be found at https://www.revenue.wi.gov/ucp/index.html.
Information for Minnesota’s unclaimed property can be found at http://mn.gov/commerce/industries/unclaimed-property/.
