TUPELO – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., today urged Mississippi taxpayers who haven’t received refund or economic stimulus checks from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to take action to ensure they receive the money they are owed.  The IRS recently announced that $2.8 million is owed to nearly 4,500 Mississippians. 

The problem stems from incorrect mailing addresses the IRS has for these taxpayers.  Nationally, the IRS is looking for 383,000 taxpayers whose $266 million in checks were returned by the U.S. Postal Service due to mailing address errors.  All a taxpayer has to do is update his or her address once.  The IRS will then send out all checks due. 

“The federal government owes money to 4,500 Mississippians,” Sen. Wicker said.  “I urge those who haven’t received their tax refund or economic stimulus checks to contact the IRS.  Once a correct mailing address is provided, they’ll put the check in the mail.” 

There are 3,578 Mississippians who are due economic stimulus checks.  Wicker said it is crucial that these taxpayers update their mailing addresses with the IRS by November 28, 2008.  By law, economic stimulus checks must be mailed by December 31 of this year.  The undeliverable economic stimulus checks in Mississippi average $555.  Additionally, there are 881 Mississippians who are due regular tax refund checks that average $898.

The quickest and easiest way for taxpayers to check the status of their economic stimulus and refund checks and to update their mailing address is to use the “Where’s My Stimulus Payment?” and “Where’s My Refund?” tools available at www.irs.gov.  Taxpayers can also call 1-866-234-2942 to check on stimulus checks or 1-800-829-1954 to inquire about their refund checks.

To help put an end to lost, stolen, or undeliverable checks in the future, the IRS encourages taxpayers to choose direct deposit when they file. Taxpayers can receive refunds directly into personal checking or savings accounts. Direct deposit is available for filers of both paper and electronic returns.

The IRS also encourages taxpayers to file their tax returns electronically because e-file eliminates the risk of lost paper returns. E-file also reduces errors and speeds up refunds