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Subscribe to RSSThe Internal Revenue Service has $164.6 million to hand out to 111,893 lucky Americans, and you can find out if you are one of them just by going to this website.
No, this isn’t an Internet scam involving a Nigerian prince, a hefty inheritance and a mysterious plea for help.
The IRS actually does have the money, and it really has been trying to find the recipients. The $164.6 million is the total amount of undelivered refunds that the IRS could not give back to taxpayers because they did not have the right address to send the check to.
In most cases, it isn’t small change. The tax collectors said this week that undelivered refund checks averaged $1,471 this year, up 28 percent from $1,148 last year. Some taxpayers are owed more than one check.
You really can go to the website to find out if you have a check due to you.
Although this isn’t a scam, the IRS warns that there are plenty of identity theft scams out there that use the tax collectors as their ruse. The real IRS does not contact taxpayers by e-mail to tell them they have a refund, so if you get an e-mail claiming to be from the IRS, do not open any attachments or click on any links.
For tips on avoiding Internet scams, or to report one, you can go to this website.
Or if you’re nervous about using the Web, you can always call the IRS at 1-800-829-1954 to find out if you have a refund waiting .
Leave a Comment:
The link in the story above is not correct.
It requires KNOWING the exact amount of any suspected unpaid refund.
Please find a correct link, that actually goes with the story.
Hi citizen reader, I used that link because it offers general information and links to more detailed pages, such as the one where you can check your refund status. The refund status page that you actually fill out does not provide as much context.
Here is the link directly to the refund status page: https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/irfof/lang/en/irfofgetstatus.jsp
Here's the link for refund help:
https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/irfof/lang/en/irfofonlinehelp.jsp
Isn't it something? The IRS always knows where you are if it thinks that you owe income taxes from umpteen years ago but it's clueless when it comes to cold-case refunds.
Well, if my ex-husband is getting one, it should be sent to me. He owes me $16,800 in arrearages.
its women like you that make the judicial system f####d up get a life and quit bitching about your ex we as men get screwed on child support so you can live an extrvagant life, get one of your own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If I knew exactly how much money I am due from the IRS, I would have already contacted them and don't need a "news" story to tell me how to do that. On the other hand, what about folks who might be due a refund and dont know about it? They are pretty much screwed because the IRS isn't going to tell them. This is yet another reason to get rid of the current tax system and go to a flat or fair tax.
This is NON-news. MSNBC, you need to get back to writing stories about "unexpected" increases of unemployment or something.
Hi Are You Awake Yet,
If you filed a tax return and retained a copy of that return you should have the dollar amount that you can enter on the website. The tax refund help site can show you where you'd find your refund amount on your tax form. The main reason that tax refunds don't get delivered is because the IRS has the wrong address.
If your problem is more complex than that, here's a link to local taxpayer assistance services:
http://www.irs.gov/localcontacts/index.html
I called the 1 800 number and you also need to know the exact amount. How would you know that exact amount, if you didn't even know you had a refund on hold for you? lol
This web site will not help much. You must know the exact amount of the refund to find out if you have a refund coming. Many times the refunds are due because the IRS changed the amount to be refunded because of one of their arcane calculations. In this case, you will never be able to find out if you have one coming. Catch-22.
Come on Allison... You're article is a bit misleading. You wrote...
In reality, you can't simply go to the web site to find out if you have a check due to you. You have to already know if you have a check due to you and know the exact amount as well. Is this article only meant as a space filler?
The IRS might as well give most of that money to the Treasury.
Most of it will not be claimed..thats the refunds for those with stolen social security numbers and or in trouble with the law who are looking for them, no way they will risk it trying to get it even though they did give it a shot sending in a tax return form. A few might be address mistakes after a move they can get it.
It's not a bad article in that it does get people thinking and aware that they might have an unclaimed refund sitting out there, however it will take some research to find an exact amount and like Chris said above what if they have changed that amount? Wish the IRS made it simple and you could just enter your SSN and maybe a few other verifying questions and it could bring up a status off that info.
The IRS recovery program probably triggers on SSN and the original refund claimed, rather than the corrected amount.
You are correct that the taxpayer has no way to know the corrected amount, if the IRS does not have their address. Of course, someone who is incapable of reporting their correct address on a return is not likely to keep a copy, refer to the copy when following up, or indeed even remember that they should be receiving a refund at all.
If the arrearage is on record with your state Child Support Enforcement Office, they will include it in the tape they send IRS right about now. Then any refund he has coming to him WILL be grabbed, forwarded to the state, and then forwarded on to you. I've had clients collect thousands of dollars in back child support that way. (Unfortunately, these deadbeats frequently manage their lives or adjust their withholding so there is no refund, to prevent this from happening.)
Your account has to be "Red flagged" through the State before they will 'grab' and hold, then disburse your ex's refund. (Which means he has to be behind a certain dollar amount and/or a certain number of months. Check with your child support office before just expecting a check to fall into your lap. They will hold it, but just like everthing else, there's strict requirements that are set out to protect the ex, as well.)
It's a trap!
Interesting - these were people who actually filed returns, so it is assumed that they had an address (or direct deposit account) which they tried to give the IRS for delivery of their refund. They could have moved (left no forwarding address) or closed the account plus moved - or they just entered their address incorrectly. Some old guy might enter the address he used 40 years ago. There might be a few cases where the address is perfectly good, but the Postal Service mistakenly returned it anyway. Or maybe they died before the refund came back. Private investigators could find most of them, but there would be no incentive for them.
The really BIG unclaimed refund money is from those who had taxes witheld, but never filed a return. These are the people who do not wish to be located for various reasons - fugitives, illegal aliens, runaway spouses or children, those with mental problems, etc.
Interesting how website asks for you SSN, but is not secure.
The very first sentence in this article should state something like, "If you submitted your taxes and are still waiting for your refund from the IRS..."
Otherwise, the header and beginning are all a misleading waste of time for the reader. Please remove this useless filler.
The IRS helping us? Yeah right.
I was married to a guy who owed child support on his son in another state. He didn't work that year, but I did. I filed my taxes, filed paperwork to show that the income was ALL mine, and a "injured spouse claim/hold harmless claim" so they wouldn't garnish my tax refund. Sure enough - my refund was taken and given to the mother of the kid (who didn't even have custody of the child anymore - in protective services custody). We got divorced soon after, and for two years, they still garnished MY refunds to pay HIS child support. I did not get a dime back. The IRS said to talk to the state's child support office to fix it and get a refund, the state's child support office said they took care of making sure I wasn't responsible for child support, but to talk to the IRS about getting the money refunded to me. It was a merry-go-round, and here I am, 6 years since the last time, still without that money (which is a good $6000 btw).
I wouldn't complain so much, had the money gone towards the child, but instead, it went to a non-custodial parent who lost her parental rights, and then she used the money to support her drug habit.
2 years ago I was in coma during tax time and couldn't send in my papers.... when I finally was able to the IRS changed my refund by 250.00 due to that stimulus check thing. So again IRS changes refund =we have no idea amt. due. Another few times ( back when I was a teen) The laws stated if you made less than xxx.xx per year you didnt have to file, Well I probably still would have been entiled to something even if it was olnly 100.00 , that happened 3 or 4 years maybe...so how am I to know ??
Did those government-created stimulus jobs pass you by?
Are you unemployed?
Do you want a job?
Find a business that hires illegal immigrants. Apply for one of those jobs.
If you don't get the job, protest, picket, and complain to everyone you can using every means available to you.
If you make enough noise you might actually get that job.
If you are not willing to do this, do not complain if you are unemployed, do not complain when your unemployment benefits run out, and do not complain about illegall immigrants taking jobs that American workers should get.