$164.6 Million is a pretty large number. Who knew that there were unclaimed checks for tax returns? The IRS recently announced that it has approximately $164.4 Million in unclaimed refund checks that are owed to about 111,893 tax payers across the country.
According to the IRS the main reasons are that the taxpayer has moved and hasn’t updated his/her address with the IRS or post office. Don’t these taxpayers know that they have a refund due to them?
According to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman, “We want to make sure taxpayers get the money owed to them, (so) if you think you are missing a refund, the sooner you update your address information, the quicker you can get your money.”
Prevent your tax refund from getting lost
Make sure that your address is up to date with the IRS and post office. Better yet, request your tax refund to be direct deposited into your bank account. This will avoid your refund from getting lost in the mail and you will also receive your money faster. The IRS also recommends electronic filing. E-file reduces the errors on tax returns and speeds up the refunds. “It’s easy, fast, and safe”!
Have an unclaimed Tax Refund?
If you have not gotten one of your tax refunds from the previous years, here’s how you can claim a lost refund.
Online
“If a refund check is returned to the IRS as undelivered, taxpayers can generally update their addresses with the “ Where’s my refund?” tool on IRS.gov. The tool also enables taxpayers to check the status of their refunds. A taxpayer must submit his or her Social Security number, filing status and amount of refund shown on their 2009 return. The tool will provide the status of their refund and, in some cases, instructions on how to resolve delivery problems.
Over the Phone
“Taxpayers checking on a refund over the phone will receive instructions on how to update their addresses. Taxpayers can access a telephone version of “Where’s My Refund?” by calling 1-800-829-1954.”
