Now that she thinks it’s owed to her, Annie Wood wants her money.

Richard Spugnardi says he’s already gotten his. The check came last week.

Kathy Tardif would love it if a check with her husband’s name on it is really his, but she doesn’t think so. Earlier this year the Tardifs were sent a state income tax refund from Maine’s treasurer, but it belonged to the wrong Michael R. Tardif, she said. She returned the check.

Wood, formerly of Auburn, and Spugnardi, of Auburn, are two of the 240 Mainers who were owed a refund of their federal income taxes but never received their checks. Tardif, of Poland, would like it if she’s among the 240 too. On Tuesday, after she was told a Michael R. Tardif appeared on the IRS list, she said she planned on checking the Internal Revenue Service’s Web site to find out.

A link on the site, called “Where’s My Refund?” can lead some people to a pot of gold.

The IRS this week issued a plea through the press to those 240 taxpayers, asking them to contact the agency to get their checks. In all, $182,000 is waiting in Uncle Sam’s coffers for them.

“If we owe you money, we’d like to get it to you,” said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson in announcing the effort to unite owners with their money. “All you have to do is tell us where you are. Our Web site makes it easy for taxpayers to track their undelivered refund checks.”

The IRS says refund checks go astray for reasons that can vary with each taxpayer. Usually, it’s the result of a life change that leads to an address change. When taxpayers move, if they don’t tell the IRS or the U.S. Postal Service about the change, their refund check is sent to their last known address.

In Kathy Tardif’s case, a check for the wrong Michael R. Tardif arrived at the home she shares with her husband, another Michael R. Tardif, in Poland.

Kathy Tardif said she suspects that it’s the other Michael R. Tardif who’s owed the check. She said the state told her it was going to attempt to find that Michael R. Tardif through his last known employer.

Richard Spugnardi’s income tax refund check finally arrived at his Auburn home last week without any prodding on his part. The government managed to figure out his address on its own.

That’s not the case with Andrea “Annie” Wood, though. And if it’s hers, she wants her money.

Woods is a sophomore at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. As such, she says, she can use the cash.

“I have no idea, no clue” how much might be owed to her, she said. “I worked several jobs over the summer.”

She said she realized at some point that the refund never reached her, and assumed it may have somehow wound up in one of her folks’ accounts.

“I asked my parents Who has my check?'” said Wood. Now she knows neither does.

Like Tardif, Wood said she’ll visit the IRS Web site soon to look into the missing check.

She has a pretty fair idea of how the check may have been waylaid.

When Wood moved from Auburn to Wheaton, her parents also moved, relocating to Kennebunkport, she said. Chances are her refund check went to the old address in Auburn, then was bounced back to the IRS.

Now, she’ll get it sent to her new address at school and be a college student with money in her pocket, at least for a day or two.

On the Web: www.irs.gov