
ATLANTA -- The Internal Revenue Service is trying to find thousands of Georgia taxpayers who may have some cash coming their way.
The federal government owes Georgia taxpayers more than $5 million, the IRS said Friday. The agency has tried to deliver that money to about 4,200 people but for one reason or another, those checks have not been received.
"We do encourage taxpayers, if they feel that they have yet to receive their refund to give us a call, or visit our website. All we need is a correct address. Once we get that correct address, we can get that check rolling," said IRS spokesperson Mark Green.
Unclaimed refunds are a growing issue for the IRS. On average, those checks amount to more than $1,200 per taxpayer. "It's up 16 percent. Unfortunately for some taxpayers this is a repeat occurrence where they have yet to give us the correct address," Green said.
It's a problem the IRS says taxpayers can avoid by electronically filing their annual return and by including your account and routing numbers. "This will go directly into your checking or savings account and this will cut down on the return not going to the correct address as well as if the check is stolen or something of that nature," Green said.
If you're one of those Georgian's that has yet to get your refund act quickly. Once you've corrected the error it will take about four weeks for you money to be delivered.
"This is a great opportunity because this is money that we all could use. The average is $1,200. It comes right in time for Christmas. You can take care of some awesome gifts," Green said.
Want to know if you're one of the Georgia taxpayers the IRS owes money?
You can also check the status of your refund on the IRS' website or by calling 1-800-829-1954.

Updated 11/6/2009 10:21:50 PM










