IRS wants to refund $3m to Mass. residents

The Internal Revenue Service is putting out an all-points bulletin for Massachusetts tax payers who are collectively owed $3 million in refunds - or an average of more than $1,000 each.

The IRS said today that refunds sent to 2,190 Bay State taxpayers were returned as undeliverable, and the average amount of the refunds owed to those taxpayers was $1,357.

A refund is normally returned as undeliverable when a taxpayer moves without updating his or her address with either the US Postal Service or the IRS, and about one refund in a thousand is returned as undeliverable, the IRS said.

The refund checks can be claimed as soon as taxpayers update their addresses with the IRS, the agency said.

Local taxpayers who believe they are owed a refund can check their status by visiting the agency's website at www.irs.gov and clicking on the "Where's My Refund?" tool and following the directions, the IRS said.

"Taxpayers should not miss out on getting their money back," Peggy Riley, an IRS spokesperson, said in a statement. "The IRS makes it as easy as possible for taxpayers to update their addresses and claim their refunds."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)