(Alexandria, VA) - Roughly $73 million in "missing" tax refunds are waiting to be found by over 84,000 Americans this year, and an online database from the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) can help people locate their money more quickly and easily than the IRS's online version. This is the fifth year that NTU and its research affiliate's publication Tax Savings Report have sponsored the database, available as a public service at www.ntu.org.
"Increasing complexity in the tax laws makes it tough enough for hard-working Americans to claim the tax savings they deserve, without having refund checks lost in the mail as well," said NTU Vice President for Communications Pete Sepp. "That's why our Online Refund Finder is so vital in helping taxpayers recover what is owed to them."
Each year, thousands of income tax refund checks are returned to the IRS as undeliverable because the taxpayer has moved, changed his or her name, or simply because the check has an incomplete or improper address (the difficulties are compounded by Hurricane Katrina-related disruptions). The NTU database is designed to provide the maximum flexibility of search options (by full name, partial name, or state), so users can find refunds (or those of relatives and friends) that may be in limbo because of these problems. If they have a refund to claim, then the site directs taxpayers to the IRS toll-free number or the IRS website where they can securely arrange to receive their money.
Although the IRS's website also has an interactive refund feature, the agency requires taxpayers to provide information that makes it difficult to use for citizens who aren't sure whether they have a refund coming, or who can't remember how much it might be.
There were roughly 19,000 fewer undelivered refunds this year compared to 1999, and approximately 3,000 fewer compared to 2004 (these figures do not count returned "advance credit" checks from 2001 and 2003). One reason for this trend is that more taxpayers have been telling the IRS to directly deposit refunds into their bank accounts. Nationally, approximately 1 out of 1,000 checks didn't reach the intended recipients. But that ratio varied tremendously by state -- North Dakota and South Dakota had less than half the national rate of undelivered refunds, while Alaska, Arizona, and Nevada had about double the average.
"Unclaimed tax refunds are not 'free money,' they are excess payments that thousands of taxpayers have sent to Washington," Sepp concluded. "It is only right that they be returned to the people who earned them, and our database at www.ntu.org can help to expedite the process."
The 350,000-member National Taxpayers Union was founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, smaller government, and taxpayer rights at all levels.
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