Wouldn't you like to get your IRS refund check sooner?
It's hard to believe but there are still almost 100,000 people who haven't gotten their 2010 income tax refund check yet. That's equivalent to all the people in Allentown or Erie who haven't gotten their refund check yet. That's a lot of people and a lot of money.
According to the IRS, one hundred fifty-three million dollars ($153 million) is due these folks, for an average of $1,547 per refund for 2010, and they haven't gotten it yet. How can this happen? People move. People fill out their forms by hand and might be a little careless writing twos that look like sevens or the like. People use last year's information for this year's computer generated return and forget they changed addresses. It happens.
What to do? First you have to know your refund hasn't arrived yet. If a person is working two jobs plus sharing parent duties, it can slip one's mind. But once you realize you're owed a refund that hasn't arrived yet, you need to do something about it.
The IRS does not send e-mail to people telling them they have a refund. The IRS does not send e-mail to people asking them for personal or financial information. If you get e-mail from the IRS about a refund or asking for personal information, delete it and grab your wallet, it's a scam. The IRS never does that because it would make "phishing" too easy for the bad guys.
What you need to do is contact the IRS to ask for your refund. You can call them at (800) 829-1954 to ask about your refund. You will have to have information to prove you are who you say you are, including your social security number, your filing status and the dollar amount of your refund.
If you move, file Form 8822, Change of Address, to alert the IRS to your new location and mailing address.
You can also go to the IRS website, www.irs.gov. You will see a link on the right side of the screen, "Where's my refund?", which will take you to another screen where you will once again have to click on "Where's my refund?" That in turn will take you to a window where you will enter the three bits of information noted above.
Before you enter that information, you will be presented with an intimidating warning: "THIS U.S. GOVERNMENT SYSTEM IS FOR AUTHORIZED USE ONLY! Use of this system constitutes consent to monitoring, interception, recording, reading, copying or capturing by authorized personnel of all activities for the purpose of detecting unauthorized access and use, or attempts to interfere with the operation of this system. There is no right to privacy in this system when you are engaged in unauthorized access or use. Unauthorized use of this system is prohibited and subject to criminal and civil penalties."
If you can get past that bit of inhospitable verbiage, you may enter your info and get started on getting your refund.
All of this begs the question, how to prevent such a delay. The answer is to have your refund (if you have one) directly deposited in your bank account. The IRS says about 78 million taxpayers did just that last year. It requires accuracy in entering the routing number and account number, but people are usually pretty careful about that, evidently more so than entering the correct address. Even people who move locally usually keep the same numbers; and when banks get bought up, the numbers usually stay the same.
If you are worried about privacy concerns, you can open a free checking account just for the purpose of receiving your refund. Direct deposit is the fastest, easiest and safest way to receive your refund.
Another thing the IRS wants people to do is to file electronically. They say almost eight out of ten people did that last year. It makes the IRS's job much easier, but there is a payoff for the taxpayer, too - the return can get checked and cleared for refund sooner.
