866 Utahns have unclaimed IRS 'gift'

Your holiday bonus could be a little larger this year if you are one of the 866 people in Utah owed money by the Internal Revenue Service.

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BORDER="1"> FACE="Verdana,Helvetica,Arial" SIZE="2">Additional information: FACE="Verdana,Helvetica,Arial" SIZE="2"> IRS undelivered refunds list

In Utah, $676,544.53 in tax refunds are waiting to be claimed. The IRS is hoping taxpayers whose income tax refund checks could not be delivered will simply tell the agency where they are.

Payouts ranging from $1 to $83,768 are waiting to be sent to Utah residents.

The refunds typically cannot be delivered due to address changes.

"If we owe you money, we'd like to get it to you," IRS commissioner Mark Everson said in a prepared statement. "All you have to do is tell us where you are. Our Web site makes it easy for taxpayers to track their undelivered refund checks."

The list of Utahns who are owed refunds is available at deseretnews.com, and the complete list can be found at www.irs.gov. The issuance process to receive a refund takes about six weeks.

Nationally, more than $73 million is owed to 87,485 taxpayers. The number of undeliverable checks decreased this year by 5,325, but the average refund increased to $836 compared to last year's average of $722.

In Utah, undeliverable checks in 2004 decreased by 56. The average refund increased to $781.23 compared to last year's average of $765.72.

"These are individuals that have initially filed their tax returns in a timely manner and have overpaid their tax," said Bill Brunson, IRS spokesman. "That list will have on there some minors and it will have on there some deceased individuals. If you're on the list and you don't claim it this year, you'll be on the list next year."

Relatives of deceased individuals can file necessary paperwork and be issued a check. There are no statutory limitations to receiving a refund if taxpayers have filed their returns on time.

Taxpayers, Brunson added, can avoid future undelivered refund checks by simply having refunds directly deposited into a personal checking or savings account.

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E-mail: danderton@desnews.com