Some extra cash could be a phone call away for dozens of Treasure Coast residents.

The Internal Revenue Service is looking for 223 Treasure Coast taxpayers who are due refund checks worth more than $15 million statewide. The refund checks were returned to the IRS by the U.S. Postal Service because of mailing address errors.

“In Florida, the average undeliverable refund is $1,538,” said Plantation-based Mike Dobzinski, IRS spokesman for Florida. “Last year, the average was $1,408. We’d like to get this money back to taxpayers as quickly as possible. All we need is an updated address and we can reissue the check.”

Nationwide, 107,831 refunds totaling $123.5 million were returned to the IRS. Undeliverable refund checks average $1,148 this year, compared to $990 last year. Some taxpayers are due more than one check.

Taxpayers can find out if they are due a tax refund by visiting the IRS Web site at http://www.irs.gov and clicking on “Where’s My Refund.” To use this feature, enter information from the 2008 tax return including the Social Security number, filing status and refund amount. Taxpayers will get the status of their refund check and, in some cases, also get instructions to resolve potential account problems. Taxpayers can also check on the status of the refund by calling (800) 829-1954.

Dobzinski said refund checks go astray because of a life change, such as a marriage or divorce. If a taxpayer moves and does not notify the IRS or the post office, a check sent to their last known address is returned to the IRS.

Dobzinski said taxpayers can avoid undeliverable tax refunds by having their refunds deposited directly into a bank account. Direct deposit guards against undelivered, lost or stolen refund checks. The IRS also encourages taxpayers to e-file their tax returns. E-file reduces errors and speeds up refunds.
Nadia Vanderhoof, TCPalm.com

Tags: IRS, refund checks

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 10:06 am and is filed under Indian River County, Martin County, St. Lucie County, Treasure Coast business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.