Does the IRS still have your refund?

What could you do with $953?

That's the average amount of the tax refund checks that were returned in 2007 to the Internal Revenue Service because they were undeliverable.

Of course, that's an average amount. Your unclaimed check might be less, but then again, it could be more. And any amount of money would be nice, espeically if you ran up substantial credit card charges during the holidays. You've just got to let IRS know where to send it.

In all, the IRS is looking for more than 115,000 taxpayers who are owed $110 million in refunds, mostly from their Form 1040 filings submitted last year. The main reason the checks came back is simple: The taxpayers moved after filing their last tax returns and then forgot to let the IRS know their new addresses. In some cases, though, the addresses on the forms were illegible, so they bounced back to Uncle Sam.

Whatever the reason, the IRS has money that could be yours. And it's an easily correctable situation.

Some people will be able to tell the IRS of their new addresses electronically, via the agency's refund tracking Web page, " Where's My Refund?"

Others will need to mail Form 8822, Change of Address, to the tax collector. You can either download the form from the IRS's Web site or call toll-free (800) 829-3676 (1-800-TAX-FORM) to request one.

Tracking down your refund

The IRS's " Where's My Refund?" Web page has become one of the agency's most popular online destinations. Now it's been upgraded to accept change-of-address data from some filers whose refund checks were returned to IRS.  Watch: "Refund anticipation loans"

When you go to the search page, have your 2006 return handy. To access the online refund locator you'll have to enter your Social Security number, filing status and the amount of the refund shown on your tax return. If the money has come back to the IRS, during the tracking process you will be prompted to enter your correct mailing information.

The address-update capability, however, does have a couple of limitations.

The feature is only available to filers whose returned check was originally issued within the past 12 months.

Filers who check on their refunds via the IRS's Refund Hotline at (800) 829-1954 cannot update their addresses on that phone call, even if their returned checks were issued in the last year. In these cases, phone callers will be given instructions on what steps to take next.

And if you moved and simply want to use the online option to let the IRS know, you're out of luck. It's available only to filers dealing with undeliverable refund checks. You'll have to use the old-fashioned Form 8822 to ensure your future returns make it to your new home.