Does The IRS Owe You Money?

The Internal Revenue Service announced today that it is looking to return $18.1 million in undelivered tax refund checks to more than 13,000 California taxpayers.

Are you missing money?

The best way to find out is to visit www.IRS.gov and use the “Where’s My Refund?” tool.

According to the IRS, some refunds could not be delivered because of mailing address errors.

Nationally, 99,123 taxpayers are due refund checks this year totaling more than $153 million. Undelivered refund checks average $1,547 this year.

If a refund check is returned to the IRS as undelivered, taxpayers can generally update their addresses using appropriate identifying information with the above “Where’s My Refund?” tool on IRS.gov. This web application also enables taxpayers to check the status of their refunds. The tool will provide the status of their refund and, in some cases, instructions on how to resolve delivery problems.

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.

To avoid undeliverable refunds, the IRS is encouraging taxpayers to choose direct deposit when they file either paper or electronic returns.

The IRS also recommends taxpayers file their tax returns electronically, because e-file eliminates the risk of lost paper returns. E-file also reduces errors on tax returns and speeds up refunds, according to the IRS.

The IRS does not contact taxpayers by e-mail to alert them of pending refunds and does not ask for personal or financial information through email. Such messages are common “phishing scams.” The IRS urges taxpayers receiving such messages not to release any personal information, reply, open any attachments or click on any links to avoid malicious code that can infect their computers.