WASHINGTON — “Where’s My
Refund?,” the popular Internet-based service used by
taxpayers to check on their federal income tax refunds, now
offers a safe and easy way to trace refund checks and update
a flawed mailing address.
These enhancements allow taxpayers to start
a trace for lost or missing refund checks and notify the Internal
Revenue Service of an address change when a refund check goes
undelivered.
“This new feature lets taxpayers take
quick and easy steps to track down a lost refund,” said
IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. “It can reduce headaches
for nearly 88,000 taxpayers who wind up with undelivered refund
checks each year.”
Taxpayers securely access their personal
refund information through IRS.gov, the agency’s Web
site. They enter their Social Security number, filing status
and the exact amount of their refund. These shared secrets
— data known only to the taxpayer and IRS — verify
the person is authorized to access the account and make it
possible to avoid delays in tracing refunds and changing an
address.
Taxpayers used “Where’s My Refund?”
nearly 24 million times last year and have used it more than
16 million times so far this year.
The new features offer step-by-step instructions
to allow taxpayers to trace their lost checks and change or
correct their mailing addresses when their refund checks have
been returned to the IRS as undeliverable. When the taxpayer
makes the change online, it automatically updates the IRS
database and provides a date when the refund check should
be received.
The new services are specialized so only
those taxpayers who actually need the services will see them
online. The refund trace can be started 28 days after the
date the IRS says the refund check was mailed. Taxpayers who
file married, filing joint tax returns must also complete
and fax or mail a copy of Form 3911, Taxpayer Statement Regarding
Refund. Signatures of both taxpayers must be on the form.
The form is only required for those whose filing status is
married, filing joint.
Taxpayers can avoid undelivered refund checks
by having their refunds directly deposited into a personal
checking or savings account. Direct deposit also guards against
theft or lost refund checks. The option is available for both
paper and electronically filed returns.
Almost 36 million taxpayers have used direct
deposit for $94 billion in refunds this year. The number of
direct deposit refunds is up nearly 12 percent from last year.
Link: Where’s
My Refund?
