The IRS May Owe You Money

Chances are, if you moved around in the last year or so, the IRS may have some money in their treasure box for you. In fact, the IRS is still expecting to hear from more than 115 thousands taxpayers to deliver their refund checks, worth about $110 million dollars.

Part of That Money Could Be Yours

In a statement released on November 14 of 2007, the IRS said that more that 115, 478 taxpayers across the country are due refund checks, because the Post Office returned them as undeliverable. The average check is about $953 dollars. Each year the Postal Service returns thousands of refund checks because the taxpayers changed their address without notifying the Post Office or the IRS, there was a misspelled name in their address, or the person died. As a result, approximately one in 1000 taxpayers did not receive their refund checks this year.

How to Check if the IRS Owes You Money

Usually, the IRS can locate people through their 1040 tax filed forms or request for change of address in the Post Office. But if you are still owed money, the IRS is making it easy for you to find your refund check by going to their web page Where's My Refund?

What Information You Need?

You are going to need your social security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), your filing status: single, married filing jointly or separately, head of household; and the exact amount of refund shown on your return. "The IRS makes it as easy as possible for taxpayers to update their addresses and claim their refunds," said Richard Morgante, commissioner of the IRS Wage and Investment Division. Once you verify and confirm the IRS has your refund check, you might be able to update your address right on their website.

In 2007, the IRS processed about 105 million refunds, worth about $240 billion dollars, and registered an increase of 21 percent in undeliverable checks compared to almost 100 thousand refund checks returned last year. According to their statement, this was due primarily to the Telephone Excise Tax Refund, aimed to return to taxpayers previously collected long-distance telephone taxes.

If you have access to the internet, you can go the IRS web page Where's My Refund and check on your due refund or call directly at 1-800-829-1954.

Don't Miss Another Refund Check

To make sure the IRS has your correct address, you can download and file form 8822, or request it by calling 1-800- TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676). And if you don't want to miss your next refund, you can sign up for direct deposit by checking the appropriate box on your tax form.

Dan Brizel "IRS Has $110 Million Refund Checks Looking For a Home" Internal Revenue Service