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Does the IRS Owe You Money?

April 15, 2010

Sherman Announces How Los Angeles and Ventura County Residents Can Find Out If They Have Unclaimed Tax Refunds

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Brad Sherman (Sherman Oaks) announced that nearly 5,000 taxpayers in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties are owed $5,477,862 in undeliverable tax refunds from the 2008 tax year. In many instances, the United States Postal Service was unable to deliver refund checks due to mailing address errors. In an effort to assist taxpayers collect their tax refunds, Congressman Sherman has posted a list of Los Angeles and Ventura County residents who are owed a refund in 2009 on his web page at BradSherman.house.gov.

“For a struggling family, a few hundred or even a thousand dollars can help defer the costs of housing, food, medicine and other important provisions,” said Congressman Sherman. “If there is any chance you have an unclaimed refund, check out our website to see if you’re on the list and learn how to contact the IRS to collect your refund.”

In California, the top three undeliverable refunds average almost $380,000. Nearly $5.5 million in 2008 tax refunds did not reach the intended Los Angeles County and Ventura County resident with the average check totaling $1,126 in Los Angeles County and $937 in Ventura County. This information is also listed at BradSherman.house.gov. The Internal Revenue Service owes refunds to 831 residents in the San Fernando Valley, but their checks were returned to the U.S. Postal Service because some families moved without leaving a forwarding address or the IRS found errors in taxpayers’ favor, but could not locate the people owed the unexpected windfalls.

Congressman Sherman represents half of the San Fernando Valley. Before he was elected to Congress in 1996, Sherman, a Certified Public Accountant, was chairman of the California State Board of Equalization; the nation’s only elected tax commission and America’s second largest tax agency.