Published: November 06, 2009 06:28 pm      

IRS holding more than 1,100 Oklahoma undeliverable refund checks

EDMOND — People in 74 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties are due 2008 federal tax refund checks that were returned to the IRS by the U.S. Postal Service due to mailing address errors. Thirty of those people had Edmond addresses when they filed their 2008 federal taxes.

For these more than 1,100 Oklahomans, quickly notifying the IRS of a current address could result in extra cash in time for the holidays, said IRS spokesman David Stell.

“We are eager to get this money into the hands of taxpayers, so don’t delay if you think you are missing a refund,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “The sooner you update your address information, the quicker you can get your refund.”

All a taxpayer has to do is update his or her address once. The IRS will then send out all checks due. Undeliverable refund checks average $1,148 this year, compared to $990 last year. Some taxpayers are due more than one check.

If a refund check is returned to the IRS as undeliverable, taxpayers can generally update their addresses with the “Where’s My Refund?” tool on IRS.gov. The tool 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 2008 return. The tool will provide the status of their refund and in some cases provide instructions on how to resolve delivery problems.

Taxpayers checking on a refund over the phone will be given instructions on how to update their addresses. Taxpayers can access a telephone version of “Where’s My Refund?” by calling 1-800-829-1954.