Hundreds of Iowans didn’t get their federal tax refund checks earlier this year and the Internal Revenue Service is trying to give folks their due. I.R.S. spokesman Christopher Miller says the checks were all returned to the agency by the postal service as “undeliverable,” for whatever reason.

“The I.R.S. is looking for around 555 Iowans who have checks waiting for them,” Miller says. “We have, at the I.R.S., a total of just under a half-million dollars for Iowans in undelivered refunds, and that’s an average check of about 900 bucks.” Nationwide, more than 100,000 taxpayers had about $124-million in refunds returned to the I.R.S., averaging around $1,150. Miller says there are a variety of things that would cause a refund check to be sent back to the I.R.S..

“Typically, these are checks that the I.R.S. sent out to taxpayers that came back as ‘undelivered’ because of an address error,” Miller says. “Maybe the taxpayer has moved or gotten married or gotten divorced and they simply forgot to update their information with the I.R.S.. As soon as they do that, we can send the check out to them again.” He says one way to avoid this problem would be to sign up for direct deposit next year, so the refund is transferred directly into your account and there’s no check to get lost. Miller says it’s a quick process to find out if you are among the 500-some Iowans who are still owed a federal refund.

“Just go to I.R.S..gov and look for a little tool called ‘Where’s My Refund’ and update your information and we’ll ship it back out to you,” Miller says. “If you don’t have a computer, there’s a toll-free number. You’re going to need your Social Security number, your filing status and the amount of your refund, which you get from your return from last year, and then we’ll be able to ship the check out to you.” That toll-free number to call is 800-829-1954.