Dateline: 11/03/01

The IRS reports that more than 390,000 tax refunds or advance payment checks have been returned to the agency due to addressing problems and urges Americans to act now so their checks can be processed and mailed to them by the end of December.

The undelivered checks include more than 295,000 of the advance tax rebate checks mailed between July and September.

Still Don't Have Your IRS Advance Rebate Check?

If you were expecting, but still have not received an IRS income tax advance payment check, you should contact the IRS toll-free assistance line at 1-800-829-1040 before Dec. 5, 2001. After that day, taxpayers cannot get an advance payment check. Instead, they will have to claim it after Jan. 1 on their 2001 tax returns.

The added urgency for the advance refund checks is because the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, which authorized the payments, says the checks cannot be issued after Dec. 31, 2001. That means IRS will not have enough time to process claims made after Dec. 5. However, those eligible for an advance payment check who do not receive it before the end of the year can claim it as a credit on their 2001 tax return starting in January.

The undelivered advance tax rebate checks returned to IRS total some $95 million - an average of $322 per check. The returned checks represent slightly more than one-third of 1 percent of the more than 85 million checks mailed.

In addition, another 95,500 "regular" tax refunds were returned to the IRS from this year and previous years. These undelivered tax refunds are worth $88.5 million – an average of $927 per check.

"The advance payment checks add a unique dimension this year," stated IRS Commissioner Charles O. Rossotti in an IRS press release. "But our goal remains the same: We want this money back in the hands of the people as quickly as possible."

Taxpayers who think they may be missing a refund or an advance payment check should first check their records or contact their tax preparer. If they believe they are missing a check, they should call the IRS toll-free assistance line at 1-800-829-1040.

Make Sure the IRS Has Your Current Address

There are many reasons that refund or advance payment checks might not reach taxpayers, but it is often because a life change causes an address change. If an address changes, and neither the IRS nor the U.S Postal Service is notified, a check sent to the last known address will be returned to the IRS. The IRS will make no effort to resolve mailing address problems. 

According to the Postal Service, about 43 million Americans move each year. That’s more than 800,000 address changes each week. 

To ensure the IRS has their correct address, taxpayers who have moved since filing their last tax return are urged to file a Form 8822, "Change of Address," with the IRS. The form can be viewed, printed or downloaded -- by clicking here (Adobe PDF) --  or can be requested by calling 1-800-829-3676. (You must have the Adobe Acrobat .pdf file reader installed on your computer to work with downloaded IRS forms. Get Acrobat Here.)