Uncle Sam may have some money for you

About 20 Yuba County residents are being sought by the Internal Revenue Service — so they can get some money back.

The folks on a list released Wednesday by the IRS all had addresses for refund checks that apparently didn't work, with the IRS getting the checks back from the U.S. Postal Service with the notation "unavailable."

However, it's not exactly obvious how hard the IRS has looked. Three of the 19 people on the list were in a Yuba-Sutter phone book, though they could not be reached for comment or did not wish to comment Wednesday evening. A woman who answered the phone for one of them, Sharah Caspi of Dobbins, said the check might have bounced back because it was sent to his physical address rather than a post office box.

The residents, who live in Marysville, Olivehurst and elsewhere in the county, are owed a cumulative $27,541 by the IRS in unclaimed refunds. The per-person average from the list is about $1,450, nearly twice as much as the average for undeliverable refunds issued last year to county residents.

An IRS spokesman said the first-time homebuyer's credit and the recovery rebate credit were the most likely reasons for higher refund amounts.

To collect the refund, residents can call 1-800-829-1954 and update their address information, or do so online at irs.gov under the "Where's My Refund?" link. Residents going online will need their Social Security number, filing status and refund amount on their return.

Sutter County had 31 such checks bounce back, worth an average of $1,214, and Colusa County had one check, with an indeterminate amount.

Statewide, there were more than 15,000 people who didn't receive a refund check there were entitled to, according to the IRS, worth a total of more than $16 million. People who changed addresses without notifying the IRS are more likely to miss a refund check.

According to the IRS, the following Yuba County residents are owed a tax return from earlier this year, with an average return of $1,450:

• Jeffrey Barton, Wheatland

• Richard and Carol Aldrich, Marysville

• Robert and Rhonda Amato, Marysville

• Elmer Duarte, Marysville

• Kimberley Malato, Marysville

• Jesus Martinez, Marysville

• Cade Michaels, Marysville

• Mark and Misty Michelet, Marysville

• Ernesto Moreno and Maria Anistro, Marysville

• Tania Zamudio, Marysville

• Cordero Barba, Beale Air Force Base

• Brendon Dassow, Beale Air Force Base

• Gilberto Hernandez, Beale Air Force Base

• Sergio Meza and M. Oregel de Meza, Challenge

• John and Cynthia Pothier, Challenge

• Sharah Caspi, Dobbins

• Esperanza Diaz and J. Ambrocio Chora, Olivehurst

• Carlos Arturo Topete, Olivehurst

Source: Internal Revenue Service

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ben van der Meer at 749-4709 or bvandermeer@appealdemocrat.com.