Thank you all for joining us here today.

As we know all too well, Tax Day is one of the most stressful days of the year for millions of Americans, and no one wants to pay one dime more in taxes than we're obligated to do. Folks all over North Carolina will be toiling away this weekend to complete their taxes and file them by the deadline Monday night. Many will hope to get refunds. However, for a variety of reasons, some taxpayers owed refunds will not receive them. In fact, recently I learned that the IRS owes more than 90,000 American taxpayers a total of more than $67 million in unclaimed or undeliverable refund checks. Folks, this is the taxpayers' money, and we need to get it back into their pockets.

Folks work too hard for their money for their tax refunds go undelivered or unclaimed. This is their money and we need to return it to them in a timely fashion. 'Return to sender' is simply not acceptable. There is nearly $2 million in unclaimed tax refunds that 3,000 families throughout North Carolina could be using to educate their children, buy prescription medicine or save for a rainy day. I hope that the media attention this receives will help these hard working taxpayers get the refunds owed to them.

With your help, we will alert the 408 Second Congressional District taxpayers on this list that their money is waiting for them. Marriage, a change of name, a change of address, or a simple transaction error can cause these refunds to be returned to the IRS. Nearly 3,000 refund checks in North Carolina were returned to the IRS marked "return to sender: address unknown." These checks come to an incredible total of over $1.85 million! The average refund check is $638. The smallest is $1, but the largest is over $47,000.

With Tax Day only a weekend away, it sure would be nice to have 47,000 of these!. It is my pleasure to help the hardworking taxpayers of North Carolina claim money that they are owed by the Internal Revenue Service and that is why today I am releasing the names of the 408 taxpayers in the Second Congressional District who should come forward and claim their cash. To see if your name appears on the list of Second Congressional District taxpayers that have an unclaimed tax refund, simply visit my website at www.house.gov/etheridge and follow the links. If you do not have access to the web, please call my office at 888-262-6202 to get a copy of the list. If your name is on this list, please call the IRS toll-free at 1-800-829-1040 to have your refund re-issued.

I want all taxpayers to know that undelivered refunds can be avoided simply by choosing to have your refund direct deposited into your bank account. Regardless of whether you file electronically or use a paper return, you can still choose direct deposit-it is safe and the fastest way to get your refund.

I hope the press will help with my effort to get the word out so folks can get their money back.

Thank you.

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