IRS Holds $73 million in Unclaimed Refunds

The IRS has reported that current refunds for nearly 90,000 taxpayers are going unclaimed due to unknown or incorrect addresses in the IRS records. More than $73 million is at stake for taxpayers who want to file corrected addresses with the taxing agency. The most common reasons for unclaimed refunds include name changes and address changes that aren't reported to the IRS, and address errors on the tax return. The IRS has no choice but to hold on to the refund checks until they are claimed, or until the law permits the government to keep the money. Taxpayers have until three years after the due date for filing their tax return to make a claim for their refund. After that time the money become the property of the U.S. Treasury. "Where's My Refund?" is a service provided by the IRS and can be found online at https://sa.www4.irs.gov/irfof/lang/en/irfofgetstatus.jsp. Taxpayers can enter their Social Security number, tax-filing status and the exact amount of the refund that was claimed on the original tax return, and the IRS will tell them the status of the refund and provide information for submitting a change of address form.

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