Our friendly Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a notice last week stating that over a hundred thousand taxpayers have yet to receive the tax refund they are due because the IRS doesn’t have an accurate, up-to-date mailing address for them.
The IRS has 107,831 undeliverable refund checks for a combined total of $123.5 million. These checks were returned to the IRS by the U.S. Postal Service due to mailing address errors.
“We are eager to get this money into the hands of taxpayers, so don’t delay if you think you are missing a refund,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “The sooner you update your address information, the quicker you can get your refund.”
The vast majority of checks mailed out by the IRS each year reach their rightful owner and only a very small percent are returned by the U.S. Postal Service as undeliverable. The IRS encourages taxpayers to e-file their tax returns and to opt for their refunds to be sent straight to their savings or checking account by direct deposit. E-file coupled with direct deposit is your best option; it’s easy, fast and safe.
E-filing reduces many of the errors that occur with paper filing that can slow down the process of receiving your refund. It also eliminates the risk of lost paper returns. And the IRS receives and can process e-filed returns faster than paper returns, which means e-filing is the fasted way to receive your refund.
The IRS encourages taxpayers to choose direct deposit when they file their returns because it puts an end to lost, stolen or undeliverable checks. Taxpayers can receive refunds directly into personal checking or savings accounts. Direct deposit is available for filers of both paper and electronic returns.
The IRS says that undeliverable refund checks average $1,148 this year, compared to $990 last year and that some taxpayers are due more than one check.
Average undeliverable refunds rose by 16% this year, which is in line with the 16% rise in average refunds for all tax returns in the latest filing season. The IRS says that several changes in tax law likely played a role in boosting refunds, including the First-Time Homebuyer’s Credit and the Recovery Rebate Credit, among others.
Taxpayers can generally update their addresses with the “Where’s My Refund?” tool on IRS.gov. The tool enables taxpayers to check the status of their refunds. To access their tax information, the taxpayer must submit his or her social security number, filing status and amount of refund shown on their 2008 return. The tool will provide the status of their refund and in some cases provide instructions on how to resolve delivery problems. Once the IRS has the updated mailing address, the IRS will then send out all checks due to the taxpayer.
Or, taxpayers checking on a refund over the phone will be given instructions on how to update their addresses. Taxpayers can access a telephone version of “Where’s My Refund?” by calling 1-800-829-1954.
But the IRS also warns taxpayers that they do not contact anyone by email and to be cautious and suspicious of authentic-looking emails appearing to be from the IRS. Recent scams involve the recipient receiving an email that appears to be from the IRS, stating they have unclaimed tax refunds. The fake email will ask the recipient to click on a link that is supposed to be the IRS site, but instead sends them to a fraudulent site that ask the taxpayer to “verify” their personal information.
The purpose of the scam is to trick taxpayers into disclosing their financial and personal identifying information that the scam artist can then use to commit identity theft or gain access to the taxpayer’s bank accounts. Don’t fall for this scam! If you believe you may have unclaimed tax refunds owed to you, contact the IRS directly.
Source:
Internal Revenue Service
