Posted on: Wednesday, November 17, 2004
IRS has checks for 575 Island residents
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
Sometimes having the IRS chase after you can be a good thing.
• Web site: www.irs.gov; click on refund section
• Phone: IRS Refund Hotline (800) 829-1954 The Internal Revenue Service said yesterday that checks totaling more than $425,000 in Hawai'i tax refunds — an average of $740 per check — were returned to the agency undelivered.
"If we owe you money, we'd like to get it to you," said IRS commissioner Mark W. Everson in a news release. "All you have to do is tell us where you are."
Taxpayers can find out if they are entitled to a refund check by checking the "Where's My Refund?" section of the agency's Web site, www.irs.gov, or calling (800) 829-1954.
Nationwide, the IRS has 87,485 undelivered refund checks totaling more than $73 million.
To avoid missing refund checks, taxpayers should keep the agency updated on current mailing addresses — the primary cause of undelivered checks.
The agency also recommends taxpayers have their refunds directly deposited into personal checking or savings accounts, which also guards against theft of lost refund checks.
Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8103.
The taxman is hunting for 575 Hawai'i residents, but this time he wants to give them money.
CHECK ON YOUR CHECK
