The check was in the mail

What do Alicia and Randall S. Slawson of Goose Creek, Mark F. Quirsfeld of Charleston and Jena L. Gracey of Summerville have in common?

They are among more than 1,000 residents in the Charleston region whose 2007 federal income tax return or economic stimulus check — or, in some cases, both —were returned by the U.S. Postal Service to the Internal Revenue Service as undeliverable.

The IRS is now trying to track them down and about 5,000 other South Carolinians.

The agency is prohibited by law from identifying the residents on its Web site, but it is allowed to release the names to the news media, which it did Thursday. The list includes the last known county of residence, but no other information.

"This is one of the rare times the IRS is legally allowed to disclose names of taxpayers, in hopes of getting updated addresses for them and getting their money to them quickly," said Mark W. Hanson of IRS media relations for the Carolinas.

The reasons the checks were returned vary, Hanson said.

"People file a return and then move and don't tell the post office or the IRS of their change of address. There could be a mistake with the address or a transposed ZIP code. Right now, the primary concern is people getting the money they are entitled to," he said.

Across the state, 4,457 stimulus payments and 1,511 tax refunds are waiting to be claimed.

The average amount of the stimulus payment checks statewide is $562. More than $2.5 million has gone unclaimed across the state.

The average amount of unclaimed tax refunds statewide is $879, or $1.3 million in total.

The Post and Courier randomly selected about two dozen of the more unusual last names from Lowcountry counties to see if they were listed in the telephone book.

All but one was unlisted, and that number dialed up an answering machine.

Income tax refunds must be claimed within three years after the April 15 filing deadline. Otherwise the money is forfeited.

The onetime stimulus payments must be claimed by Dec. 31. Individuals who don't meet that deadline will have to file a rebate recovery credit on next year's return, Hanson said.

The stimulus checks, typically $600 for individuals or $1,200 for married couples, were issued to more than 76 million U.S. residents this year to help boost the national economy.

John P. McDermott of The Post and Courier contributed to this report. Reach Warren Wise at 937-5524 or wwise@postandcourier.com.