If your refund hasn't arrived, IRS says to check online

SPRINGFIELD - Are you anxiously awaiting your tax refund from the Internal Revenue Service? If it has been four to six weeks since you mailed your return, or seven days if you filed electronically, the IRS has an Internet-based service that provides a quick, easy and safe way to check the status of your refund. The service called “Where’s My Refund?” is available on the IRS Web site - www.irs.gov. The 3.2 million New Jersey taxpayers who get refunds can use this service to check the status of their refunds. Approximately 78 percent of New Jersey filers receive a federal income tax refund. The average refund this year is more than $2,200 with more than $7.2 billion in refunds going to New Jersey’s taxpayers. “Whether you file before April 15th or after, there’s no better way to check on your refund than visiting IRS.gov,” said IRS spokesperson Gregg Semanick. “Using IRS.gov gets you the information you need whenever you want it. With ‘Where’s My Refund?’ taxpayers get the information they need quickly, efficiently and safely.” Taxpayers using the IRS.gov feature can avoid the need to call the IRS. Checking on refunds ranks as the most frequent question the IRS gets through its phone system. The refund Web site is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Simple online instructions guide taxpayers through a process that checks the status of their refund after they provide identifying information shown on their tax return. Once the information is processed, results can include one of several responses, including: • That a return was received and is in processing; • The mailing date or direct deposit date of the taxpayer’s refund; or • Whether a refund has been returned to the IRS because it could not be delivered. Recent enhancements also allow taxpayers to start a trace for lost or missing refund checks and notify the Internal Revenue Service of an address change when a refund check goes undelivered. The new features offer step-by-step instructions to allow taxpayers to trace their lost checks and change or correct their mailing addresses when their refund checks have been returned to the IRS as undeliverable. When the taxpayer makes the change online, it automatically updates the IRS database and provides a date when the refund check should be received. If 28 days have passed after the IRS says it mailed a refund check, a new feature on “Where’s My Refund” enables taxpayers to initiate a trace. The refund trace allows taxpayers to update a flawed mailing address. However, taxpayers who are married and filing joint returns must also complete and fax or mail a copy of Form 3911, Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund. Signatures of both taxpayers must be on the form. This form is required only for those whose filing status is married, filing jointly. Taxpayers are able to take quick and easy steps to track down a lost refund. It can reduce headaches for over 2,600 New Jerseyans who wind up with undelivered refund checks each year. The IRS says taxpayers can avoid undelivered refund checks by having their refunds directly deposed into a personal checking or savings account. Direct deposit also guards against theft and lost refund checks. Direct deposit is available for both paper and electronically filed returns. The “Where’s My Refund?” service meets stringent IRS security and privacy certifications. Taxpayers enter identifying information that includes their Social Security Number, filing status and the exact amount of their refund in whole dollars. The information must be entered exactly as it appears on the tax return filed with the IRS. The exact information verifies that the person is authorized to access that account and avoids an unsuccessful response. The IRS reminds taxpayers to not share any of this personal data to anyone claiming to be the IRS in an e-mail. The phony e-mail scheme is called “phishing,” and it is an attempt to get private information such as Social Security, credit card or bank account numbers from taxpayers. The IRS reminds taxpayers it does not send out unsolicited e-mails. “Millions of taxpayers have discovered the ease and convenience of “Where’s My Refund,” Semanick said. “Nationwide, taxpayers used this feature more than 24 million times from January through mid-April. Taxpayers without Web access can get refund information by using the new IRS refund hotline at 1-800-829-1954 or by calling the automated Tele-Tax Service at 1-800-829-4477.