By GalTime Consumer Watchdog, Mary Schwager
Could Uncle Sam be holding onto YOUR money? Before you start to gather all your tax documents for yet another year of painful organizing, calculating and number crunching, listen up! The Internal Revenue Service is looking to return $164.6 million in undelivered tax refund checks. Whoa! That's a lot of dough ! Could some of it be yours? A total of 111,893 taxpayers are due one or more refund checks that could not be delivered because of mailing address errors.
"We want to make sure taxpayers get the money owed to them," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. "If you think you are missing a refund, the sooner you update your address information, the quicker you can get your money."
Related: 6 Easy Ways to Jumpstart Savings in 2011
If you think you could be missing a check or two just contact the IRS and let them know your new contact info. Here's how to do it: You can usually update your address with the " Where's My Refund?" tool on IRS.gov. This website also allows you to check the status of your refund by submitting your Social Security number, filing status and amount of refund shown on your 2009 return.
If you want to update your address or check on the status of your refund on the phone call: 1-800-829-1954.
One other way to make sure your tax refund check gets to you is to choose direct deposit when you file either paper or electronic returns. It goes directly into your bank.
Related: What to Shred, What to Keep: Organizing for Tax Time
The IRS also recommends you file 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. The Feds say E-file combined with direct deposit is the best option for taxpayers; it's easy, fast and safe.
Also: SCAM ALERT to keep in mind ! The IRS NEVER contacts taxpayers via e-mail to alert them of pending refunds. If you get a message like that hit delete! It's a common identity theft scam. The agency urges you not to release any personal information, hit reply to an email or open any attachments you may get.
Happy filing!
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