The agency says there are 99,123 taxpayers to whom the checks weren’t delivered because it had the wrong mailing address. The returned checks average $1,547 apiece.

It’s an annual exercise for the IRS, which has been nudging taxpayers toward accepting their refunds through direct, electronic deposits to their bank accounts. Out of the nearly 103 million refunds the IRS issued through early June this year, 76 million were direct deposits.

Of those delivered by the mail, about 0.3 percent bounced back to the IRS because of return address problems.

Taxpayers hoping to claim their refund can click on the "Check on Your Refund" link at www.irs.gov , or call 1-800-829-1954.