Have you claimed your lost IRS refund?

I'll admit it: I'm terrible at paperwork! One year I just didn't do my taxes, so afraid was I of the Big Box of Unopened Mail, and finally finished them on April 17th (what's another couple of days?) during the next annual tax cycle. Turns out, I got a huge refund, and kicked myself for having let the government use my money for a whole extra year for free.

Could you be doing the same thing thanks to a recent move? The IRS is looking for 115,478 taxpayers whose refund checks were returned to them by the postal service. The checks aren't tiny, either -- they total $110 million and average just under $1,000. Some taxpayers have several checks sitting in the IRS bank account, just waiting for the government to get updated address information from you.

Update your address and check on your refund status at this IRS page; or download form 8822 to ensure the IRS has your most recent digits.