To change your address with the IRS, you can put the new address on your next tax return, call 800-829-1040, mail Form 8822, or send a signed written statement to the IRS office where you filed your last return. All four methods update the same record the IRS uses for refunds, bills, and legal notices. Do it promptly: the IRS can send binding notices to the last address you gave it, and the deadlines on those notices keep running whether or not the mail ever reaches you.1Internal Revenue Service. Definition of Last Known Address Rev. Proc. 2010-16
Put the New Address on Your Next Return
The easiest update takes no extra paperwork. Enter your current address when you file your next Form 1040 or 1040-SR, and once the return is processed that address becomes your address of record.2Internal Revenue Service. Address Changes The catch is timing. If you already filed for the year and then moved, waiting until next filing season is too long. Use one of the other methods below.
File Form 8822
Form 8822, Change of Address, is the IRS form built for this purpose for individual returns. Download it from irs.gov.3Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8822, Change of Address You’ll need your full legal name as it appears on your last return, your Social Security number or ITIN (and the same for anyone else on the form), your old address, and your new address.
If your last return was a joint return, both spouses have to sign Form 8822. The exception: if one spouse has established a separate residence, that spouse checks the box on line 1 and signs alone.4Internal Revenue Service. Form 8822, Change of Address Line 2 has a separate box to check if the change should also apply to gift, estate, or generation-skipping transfer tax returns.
A tax professional can submit Form 8822 for you, but they have to attach a copy of their power of attorney or a completed Form 2848. The IRS won’t process an address change filed by an unauthorized third party.5Internal Revenue Service. Address Changes
Moving Abroad
The same Form 8822 works for a move to a foreign country. Use the destination country’s format for the postal code and write out the country name in full instead of abbreviating it. Where you mail the form depends on your old address, not the new one. If your old address was already outside the 50 states—a foreign country, an APO/FPO address, American Samoa, or Puerto Rico—send it to the IRS in Austin, TX 73301-0023.4Internal Revenue Service. Form 8822, Change of Address Otherwise use the address for your old state below.
Where to Mail Form 8822
Send the completed form to the IRS center that matches your old home address:
- Kansas City, MO 64999-0023: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
- Austin, TX 73301-0023: Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
- Ogden, UT 84201-0023: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
If you checked line 2 for gift or estate tax returns, send the form to Kansas City no matter which state you’re in.4Internal Revenue Service. Form 8822, Change of Address
Call the IRS
You can update your address by calling 800-829-1040, open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time.6Internal Revenue Service. Let Us Help You Before you dial, have your full name, Social Security number or ITIN, both addresses, and a copy of your most recent tax return in front of you. The representative will run identity verification questions against that return before changing anything on your record.7Internal Revenue Service. Before Calling the IRS, People Should Know What Info They’ll Need to Verify Their Identity
Send a Signed Written Statement
If you’d rather skip the form, a plain signed letter works too. Include your full name, old and new addresses, and your Social Security number, ITIN, or EIN, then mail it to the IRS address where you filed your last return.5Internal Revenue Service. Address Changes If you filed jointly, both spouses should sign.
USPS Forwarding Is a Backstop, Not a Substitute
Filing a change of address with the Postal Service may reach the IRS eventually, because the agency periodically pulls updates from the USPS National Change of Address database. But the IRS warns that not every post office forwards government checks, so notify the IRS directly instead of relying on the USPS alone.2Internal Revenue Service. Address Changes USPS forwarding is still worth setting up as a safety net during the weeks it takes the IRS to process your update.
How Long It Takes and How to Confirm
Processing generally takes four to six weeks from the day the IRS receives your form.4Internal Revenue Service. Form 8822, Change of Address During that window, mail may still be going to your old address.
The IRS does not usually send individuals a confirmation letter after an address change. To verify the update, sign in to your IRS online account at irs.gov using ID.me and check the address on file.8Internal Revenue Service. How to Register for IRS Online Self-Help Tools
Businesses Use a Different Form
If you’re updating the address for an entity with an EIN, Form 8822 isn’t the right form. Businesses use Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party — Business, which asks for the EIN and the name of the responsible party.9Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business Reporting a change in responsible party is mandatory within 60 days; an address-only update on 8822-B is voluntary but recommended.10Internal Revenue Service. Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business
Updating your address with the IRS also doesn’t touch your state tax agency, your secretary of state, or the Social Security Administration. Those are separate filings.
Why the Address on File Matters
The IRS treats the address on your most recently processed return as your “last known address” unless you’ve separately notified the agency of a change. A notice mailed there is legally effective even if you never see it.1Internal Revenue Service. Definition of Last Known Address Rev. Proc. 2010-16
The starkest example is a notice of deficiency, the “90-day letter” that proposes additional tax and gives you 90 days from the mailing date (150 if you’re outside the United States) to petition the U.S. Tax Court. If the IRS sends that letter to an outdated address and it comes back undeliverable, the clock keeps running. There is no legal provision to pause or extend the deadline.11Internal Revenue Service. 4.8.9 Statutory Notices of Deficiency Miss the window and you lose your right to challenge the tax in Tax Court before paying it.
Refunds are the everyday version of the same problem. When a direct deposit fails, the IRS cancels the electronic payment and reissues a paper check to whatever address it has on file.12Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Tax Refund Frequently Asked Questions A wrong address there means a check that bounces back and has to be rerouted.