Forget writing a check to the Internal Revenue Service.
The IRS wants to hand over money to nearly 3,600 Illinois residents, who are owed more than $1,000 apiece on average. And Thanksgiving is over. So consider it an early Christmas present sent to the wrong person.
Sue Hales, spokeswoman for the IRS in Illinois, says the postal service has returned several thousand refund checks to the agency as undeliverable. Their value? More than $3.6 million.
Hales says all the IRS needs is an updated address so the checks can be reissued.
The IRS says people can avoid the delay in getting their refunds by having the money directly deposited into their bank accounts.
Taxpayers can check to see if the IRS owes them cash by visiting www.irs.gov and clicking on the "Where's My Refund" link.
