Thousands of Refunds Waiting to be Claimed

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service is looking over 96,000 taxpayers who have not gotten their 1992 tax refund checks. These undelivered refunds total over $50 million dollars, an average of $518 per check.

The Postal Service returned these refund checks to IRS because they could not deliver them. Thousands of checks are returned because the names or addresses on the checks are incorrect. Some taxpayers move and do not give the IRS their new address.

Taxpayers can avoid the delay of an undelivered refund by sending the IRS a change of address--Form 8822--when they move. Also taxpayers who file returns electronically avoid delay because their refunds are deposited directly into their bank accounts. Direct deposit eliminates the possibility of lost, stolen or undeliverable refund checks.

Each year there are thousand of undelivered refunds. In 1992, there were 81,000 undelivered refunds. However, the number of refunds returned this year is small--one-tenth of one percent of all refunds issued. Last filing season more than 74 million taxpayers received their refund checks on time with the average refund being $100.

Taxpayers who have not yet received their 1992 refund should call 1-800-829-1040.

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