December 23, 2011

2,600 North Carolinians due for Tax Refunds

2,621 taxpayers in North Carolina are due to receive tax refunds totaling $2,795,614 making it an average refund of $1,067 per person, according to Mark Hanson, IRS spokesman for North and South Carolina. However, these checks are unclaimed because of mailing address errors.

A breakdown according to counties shows that in Onslow County, 81 people are owed tax checks totaling $18,563.27. The average refund is worth $893. Carteret residents are owed $15,150 averaging $561 per refund while in Duplin 55 residents are due to be refunded $251,864 averaging $4,579 per person and 13 Pender residents are owed $18,563 averaging $1,428. In Jones County, 6 residents are due for refunds. The IRS does not keep statistical information of counties where less than 10 people are owed refunds.

If you think that the IRS owes you a refund which you have yet to receive, you should visit the IRS website and check the “Where’s my refund?” tool. Using this tool, you will be able to track your refund and in some cases receive instructions on how to resolve delivery problems. Alternatively, you can access “Where’s my refund?” through the telephone by dialing 1-800-829-1954. You will receive instructions on how to update your address.

Want to put an end to tax refund delivery problems? Choose direct deposit when filing your tax returns. You can do so whether you file electronically or physically. Even better is to file your returns electronically, which would eliminate the possibility of your tax return getting lost. Last year, more than 70% of taxpayers filed their tax returns using e-filing.

Bear in mind, you will never receive a notice from the IRS saying a refund is due neither would the IRS request for your personal banking information to deposit your refund. If you do receive such notices they are highly likely to be phishing scams and you should not respond to such mails (electronic or physical), neither should you open any attachment or click on any link in such email notices. Phishing scams are designed either to obtain your personal information to steal your money or send malicious software that could damage your computer.

The number of undeliverable refund checks is small in comparison to those that are successfully delivered and many of them belong to military personnel who may be transferred to another post before their refund checks could arrive. For such taxpayers, the most viable thing to do is to opt for direct deposits.
“If you’re using E-file and direct deposit, you don’t have to worry about whether that check is going to arrive in the mail before you leave,” Hanson said.

Some area newspapers have a list of local residents due for a refund in their online portals. Taxpayers should check for their own names and those of anyone else they know and alert them accordingly. Hanson said, “We’re trying to reach out and find these people,” he said. “You might know a friend, a coworker, a relative, an acquaintance.”

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