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Publication #FAR9046

 

IRS Trying to Give Refunds1

Donna Davis and Josephine Turner2

Figure 1. 
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April 15 is a date etched in the minds of most U.S. taxpayers, and many families worry about meeting this tax deadline. However, the tax refund that follows can also be an important part of family financial planning …whether it goes to paying bills, buying that big-ticket item that's been on the wish list for a while, or putting it away for savings or retirement.

Some people may find it surprising that the IRS is currently looking for more than 84,000 taxpayers … not to collect unpaid taxes, but to deliver their tax refund! According to the IRS, checks totaling approximately $73 million could not be delivered to their rightful owners in 2005. The average amount owed to each taxpayer? $871.

In most cases, refund checks go astray as a result of the taxpayer moving and not providing a forwarding address to the IRS or U.S. Postal Service, so when sending out those change of address cards, don't forget Uncle Sam! Anyone who believes they may have a missing refund can contact the IRS or go to the IRS website (http://www.irs.gov) to get information.

The "Where's My Refund" feature on the website provides taxpayers with the status of their refund as well as instructions to resolve potential account issues. If Internet access is not available, the IRS can also be contacted at 1-800-TAX-FORM.

With a quick call or a few clicks on the mouse, many families may have a nice "bonus" of nearly $1,000 to work with in their budget.

Listening, learning, and living together: it's the science of life. "Family Album" is a co-production of University of Florida IFAS Extension, the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, and of WUFT-FM. If you'd like to learn more, please visit our website at http://www.familyalbumradio.org.

To listen to the radio broadcast:

http://www.radiosource.net/radio_stories/324.mp3

http://www.radiosource.net/radio_stories/324.wav

Reference

IRS Newswire (IR-2005-125). (2005, October 25.) IRS looking for more than 84,000 owners of undelivered refunds. Retrieved September 17, 2007, from http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-news/ir-05-125.pdf.

Footnotes

1.

This document is FAR9046, one of a series of the Family Youth and Community Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Broadcast as program 324 and published March 2009. Reviewed March 2012. In the interest of time and/or clarity, the broadcast version of this script may have been modified. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Donna Davis, senior producer, Family Album Radio, and Josephine Turner, professor, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.