IRS has stimulus, refund checks waiting to be claimed
By Molly Montag | Posted: Monday, November 03, 2008
SIOUX CITY -- It sounds crazy, but the Internal Revenue Service is trying to give people money.
The agency just can't get them to claim it.
This year, 276 Siouxland residents have money waiting for them -- an economic stimulus check, a tax refund or both. All they have to do is claim it.
They are among an estimated 383,000 Americans who haven't received the nearly $266 million in economic stimulus checks or tax refunds due them.
Christopher Miller, an IRS spokesman in Milwaukee, said most of the unclaimed payments are due to incorrect addresses. People can claim their payments by providing the IRS with a correct address by Nov. 18 so the agency can issue the checks by Dec. 31 as required by law.
"In Iowa, the average undeliverable stimulus payment is around $550. The average regular refund sent back to us is nearly $920," Miller said. "That's a lot of money when you add those two up."
The bulk of local undelivered refunds are in Woodbury County, where at least 23 tax refunds averaging $703 and 87 stimulus checks averaging $576 were returned to the IRS.
Former Sioux City resident Jenna Sandman, 20, hasn't received her stimulus check.
Sandman, who recently moved to Fort Walton Beach, Fla., said she tried to get her check before leaving Iowa but never did.
She plans to call the IRS to get her address changed: The $300 stimulus check has "unpaid cell phone bill" written all over it.
"I need it bad," Sandman said.
Although some might think the IRS isn't trying hard enough to get the money to the rightful recipients, Journal efforts to track down some of them demonstrated that they can be hard to find. Few are listed in the phone book.
The father of a former South Sioux City man, for instance, said his son was somewhere "out in Nebraska." Through a series of phone calls, the Journal finally got in touch with Mark Mann, 40, who explained that he'd moved about 100 miles from South Sioux City to Neligh, Neb., during the past year. Although he'd received his tax return, Mann still has a $300 stimulus check coming his way.
When it arrives, Mann said, it will go toward bills.
If taxpayers don't get their money this year, Miller said it can be claimed next year as a tax credit. Money not claimed goes back into the U.S. Treasury, but Miller hopes it winds up where it belongs.
"That's a lot of money for families that might be looking for a little extra cash as the holidays approach," he said. "So, we want those people to get their money."
Check the list
The IRS has checks waiting to be claimed by 276 Siouxland residents in the following counties.
Click here to search a database of money owed to Iowans, South Dakotans and Nebraskans.
IOWA
Buena Vista County -- 16
Cherokee County -- 10
Clay County -- 10
Crawford County -- 9
Dickinson County -- 13
Ida County -- 5
Lyon County -- 4
Monona County -- 7
O'Brien County -- 7
Osceola County -- 2
Plymouth County - 12
Sioux County -- 2
Woodbury County -- 108
SOUTH DAKOTA
Union County -- 14
Yankton County -- 26
NEBRASKA
Dakota County -- 31
Source: Internal Revenue Service
The agency just can't get them to claim it.
This year, 276 Siouxland residents have money waiting for them -- an economic stimulus check, a tax refund or both. All they have to do is claim it.
They are among an estimated 383,000 Americans who haven't received the nearly $266 million in economic stimulus checks or tax refunds due them.
Christopher Miller, an IRS spokesman in Milwaukee, said most of the unclaimed payments are due to incorrect addresses. People can claim their payments by providing the IRS with a correct address by Nov. 18 so the agency can issue the checks by Dec. 31 as required by law.
"In Iowa, the average undeliverable stimulus payment is around $550. The average regular refund sent back to us is nearly $920," Miller said. "That's a lot of money when you add those two up."
The bulk of local undelivered refunds are in Woodbury County, where at least 23 tax refunds averaging $703 and 87 stimulus checks averaging $576 were returned to the IRS.
Former Sioux City resident Jenna Sandman, 20, hasn't received her stimulus check.
Sandman, who recently moved to Fort Walton Beach, Fla., said she tried to get her check before leaving Iowa but never did.
She plans to call the IRS to get her address changed: The $300 stimulus check has "unpaid cell phone bill" written all over it.
"I need it bad," Sandman said.
Although some might think the IRS isn't trying hard enough to get the money to the rightful recipients, Journal efforts to track down some of them demonstrated that they can be hard to find. Few are listed in the phone book.
The father of a former South Sioux City man, for instance, said his son was somewhere "out in Nebraska." Through a series of phone calls, the Journal finally got in touch with Mark Mann, 40, who explained that he'd moved about 100 miles from South Sioux City to Neligh, Neb., during the past year. Although he'd received his tax return, Mann still has a $300 stimulus check coming his way.
When it arrives, Mann said, it will go toward bills.
If taxpayers don't get their money this year, Miller said it can be claimed next year as a tax credit. Money not claimed goes back into the U.S. Treasury, but Miller hopes it winds up where it belongs.
"That's a lot of money for families that might be looking for a little extra cash as the holidays approach," he said. "So, we want those people to get their money."
Check the list
The IRS has checks waiting to be claimed by 276 Siouxland residents in the following counties.
Click here to search a database of money owed to Iowans, South Dakotans and Nebraskans.
IOWA
Buena Vista County -- 16
Cherokee County -- 10
Clay County -- 10
Crawford County -- 9
Dickinson County -- 13
Ida County -- 5
Lyon County -- 4
Monona County -- 7
O'Brien County -- 7
Osceola County -- 2
Plymouth County - 12
Sioux County -- 2
Woodbury County -- 108
SOUTH DAKOTA
Union County -- 14
Yankton County -- 26
NEBRASKA
Dakota County -- 31
Source: Internal Revenue Service
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RealHerky wrote on Nov 4, 2008 12:24 AM:
ryan wrote on Nov 3, 2008 1:38 PM:
Herky wrote on Nov 3, 2008 4:08 AM:
Pretty soon this administration will start to do the things the people of America want. Where is it going to stop ? ? How many people will lose their jobs when they close Gitmo ? ?
All I can say is that Cheney better keep a better watch on George and maybe keep the control strings taut "
germaine smith wrote on Nov 2, 2008 11:07 AM: