Some lucky Northern Rivers residents could be in for a surprise Christmas bonus if they go after the $2,538,958 of unclaimed North Coast money sitting in the coffers of Revenue NSW, according to Clarence Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis.

“Talk about a crying shame! We can’t leave this money with the bureaucrats over the holidays when all it takes to claim is a quick online search,” Mr Gulaptis said.

“The NSW taxman holds more than $46 million across NSW and one million unclaimed items that can’t be returned to the owner because their contact details are out of date and they cannot be tracked down.”

Mr Gulaptis said a fair chunk of this money belonged to North Coast locals he was determined to make sure they got it back.

“Almost $17 million has been paid to claimants since December last year,” he said.

“It’s quick and easy to check if you have unclaimed money: go to revenue.nsw.gov.au, type ‘unclaimed money’ in the box and enter your name into the free search tool.

“If you do find some money, congratulations! Lodge a claim with Revenue NSW and collect your cash,” Mr Gulaptis concluded.