$3.6 mil. in tax refunds returned

Missing your income tax refund?

The Internal Revenue Service says refund checks for 3,600 Illinois taxpayers, averaging $1,023 were returned by the U.S. Postal Service as undeliverable. The total value is $3.6 million.

Nationally, nearly 108,000 refund checks, totaling $123.5 million, were returned to the IRS. "We'd like to get this money back to taxpayers as quickly as possible," said IRS spokeswoman Sue Hales.

Taxpayers can check on the status of their refund by calling (800) 829-1954 or by visiting www.irs.gov and clicking on "Where's My Refund." To use the feature, enter information from the 2008 tax return, including the Social Security number, filing status and refund amount.

To ensure the IRS has their correct address after moving, taxpayers can file a Form 8822. To avoid undeliverable tax refunds, taxpayers also can have their refunds deposited directly into a bank account.

Francine Knowles