IRS urges Hawai'i to claim refunds

Associated Press

HONOLULU — Nearly 1,700 Hawai'i residents who didn't receive their tax rebate checks from this summer's big tax cut are running out of time to claim them, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.

The checks totaling $566,164, an average of $335 per check, were returned to the IRS as undeliverable, mostly because the taxpayer moved and left no forwarding address, said Shawn George, a spokeswoman for the IRS in Seattle.

Those taxpayers have until Dec. 5 to claim the checks of up to $300 for individuals and $600 for married couples. Under the law that authorized the rebates, the checks cannot be mailed after Dec. 31 and the IRS needs a few weeks to process the claims. After that date, taxpayers will have to wait until after Jan. 1 and claim the money on their 2001 tax returns.

In addition, 550 tax refund checks from regular tax returns were returned from Hawai'i, the IRS said. Those refunds, from 2000 tax returns and earlier years, are worth $380,376, an average of $706 per check.

People who believe they are due a check can call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. Taxpayers can also notify the IRS about a new address by filing Form 8822, which can be downloaded from the agency's Web site.

"All we need is a good address," said IRS Commissioner Charles O. Rossotti. "As soon as we get the correct address, we'll start the check on its way. But for the advance checks, we need that information before Dec. 5 so we have time to reprocess the checks."

The IRS says the best way for taxpayers to ensure they receive payments is to have them deposited directly in a bank account — although that option wasn't available for the rebate checks. In 2001, about 34 million taxpayers used the direct deposit option for their regular refunds.