IRS may have a refund check waiting for you

There are many reasons why the checks do not reach the people to whom they belong, but one of the biggest causes is people move and forget to change their address, said John Crawford, IRS spokesman.

Another common problem is typos in the address.

Although the IRS is eager to return the money owed to taxpayers, Crawford said it is not urgent that people rush to claim their funds because there are no deadlines associated with them.

“The refund will remain there until they update their address, whether it’s tomorrow or several years down the line, so it’s not like it expires,” Crawford said.

To receive their refunds, taxpayers needs to submit a change of address form, No. 8822, which is available online at IRS.gov under the “Where’s My Refund?” feature. There is also a telephone version, accessible by calling (800) 829-1954.

Taxpayers must know their Social Security numbers, filing status and amount of the refund listed on their 2009 returns.

Victoria Bondi, 56, of Washington Twp., was surprised to learn her name was on the IRS’ list. Bondi said she and her husband, Philip Bondi, moved last year, which may have caused the delivery problems. But she said she is confused because she thought she already received her refund for 2009.

“Maybe this is a correction or an addition,” she said.

Bondi said she is remodeling her kitchen and she plans to put any extra money toward that improvement project.

The average value of the undelivered refund checks in Montgomery County is $1,059.

Ralph Frasca, University of Dayton economics professor, said people’s expenditures are based on what they expect to earn, meaning what they will likely do with their refund — save or spend it — depends on whether they anticipated those funds or not.

“People probably are getting larger refunds because they earned less than they expected, therefore more was taken out of their income at some point during the year,” Frasca said. “If they are getting refunds this year, because their income has dropped, they will probably end up spending most of that refund.”

People usually receive refunds because they did not take many exemptions on their W-4s, or they lost a job or were laid off and too much was deducted from their wages, Frasca said.

In 2010, the IRS issued 107.7 million refunds to Americans, totaling $315 billion, averaging out to $2,932 per check.

The 6.5 percent increase in the median refund could be due to new tax credits and deductions that resulted from tax law changes that include the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, an increase earned-income tax credit and the first-time homebuyer credit, Crawford said.

Miami Valley taxpayers owed a federal refund