Tax refund checks left unclaimed in Utah

Do you think you are missing a tax refund check? In Utah alone there are approximately 1,140 checks worth $1,061,187 waiting to be claimed by taxpayers. The cause of having so many unclaimed checks is usually having an incorrect address on file, which is easily remedied after submitting a change of address form. Another reason is that residents just haven’t filed a tax return.
“We are eager to get this money into the hands of taxpayers, so don’t delay if you think you are missing a refund,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman in a news release.
Not having an address on file or not filing a tax return isn’t the only reason there are so many checks left over. According to Money-zine.com, some other examples of refunds that lay unclaimed are:
Back in 2006, taxpayers were permitted to claim a credit for excise taxes the government had improperly collected. The refund could be as high as $60, depending on the number of dependents and exemptions claimed by the taxpayer. Despite the fact that no substantiation was required, 28 percent of taxpayers failed to claim this credit.
In 2008, the federal government issued economic stimulus payments to all eligible taxpayers. Nearly 280,000 of those checks were classified by the United States Postal Service as undeliverable. This translates into $163 million in lost or missing refunds.
In 2008, approximately 104,000 standard tax refunds were also classified as undeliverable. This amounted to $103 million in unclaimed refunds.
The most common source of unclaimed tax refunds has to do with individuals failing to file tax returns. The dollars associated with these refunds are $2 billion in 2002, $2.2 billion in 2003, $1.2 billion in 2004 and $1.3 billion in 2005.
At an average of $934 per check, Utah residents are missing out. This year unclaimed money has risen by 16 percent, leaving Weber County with 75 undeliverable checks totaling more than $71,000. Davis County has 72 unclaimed checks.
“The sooner you update your address information, the quicker you can get your refund,” Shulman said.
This is not just an issue in Utah. Throughout the country, $123.5 million in 107,831 checks have yet to be cashed. In California, 154,500 checks lay dormant. Another way to avoid this problem, other than making sure you have a correct address on file, is to have your tax refund directly deposited into a checking or savings account. This option also guards against theft or losing a check and increases the chance of receiving a refund because the IRS is able to acknowledge its receipt of the document electronically.
Many people don’t even realize they qualified for a refund or that they are missing one.
“Filing taxes is always a tedious and slightly confusing task,” said Benjamin Frye, a student at Weber State University. “I wouldn’t be surprised if many people don’t really know if they are getting a refund or not.”
Good news for residents of Utah that may be missing a tax refund: there is an easy way to find out if you qualified for a refund and, if you did, where that refund is now. The site, www.IRS.gov provides a tool called “Where’s My Refund” that uses information like your social security number, filing status and the amount of your refund expected to track it for you. There is also an automated version available via telephone by calling
(800) 829-1954.