How to File IRS Form 14039: Submission, Aftermath, and Boundaries

To file IRS Form 14039, the Identity Theft Affidavit, complete Sections A through E, attach a legible photocopy of a government-issued ID, and submit the form online at irs.gov/dmaf/form/f14039, by fax to 855-807-5720, or by mail. If you’re filing a paper tax return at the same time, attach the form to the back of that return; if you’re filing the affidavit on its own, mail it to the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Fresno, CA 93725. If the IRS has already sent you a notice about the incident, follow the instructions on that notice instead.¹

When Form 14039 Is the Right Form

File Form 14039 only when tax-related identity theft has happened or you have reason to believe it will. The usual triggers are an e-filed return rejected because someone already filed under your Social Security number, a CP5071 series notice asking you to verify your identity on a suspicious return,² a CP2000 notice listing wages you never earned, or a data breach that exposed information usable for tax fraud.³

Section B of the form asks you to check which of three situations applies, and you can check more than one:

Someone filed a fraudulent federal return using your information. If your spouse was also affected, you can indicate that on the same form.
Someone else’s return claimed you or your dependent. Use the victim’s information in the personal-details sections, not yours.
Someone used your SSN or ITIN for employment, and the employer reported wages to the IRS under your number.

Do not file the form if you already submitted one for the same incident, if the IRS sent you a notice with specific instructions to follow, if the identity theft has nothing to do with taxes (report that at IdentityTheft.gov), if you were directed to the Identity and Tax Return Verification Service, or if the victim is a business, trust, estate, or tax-exempt organization. Filing when it isn’t needed slows processing for you and everyone else.³ One narrower boundary: if a parent or guardian misused a child’s SSN on their own filing, the IRS does not treat that as identity theft, and Form 14039 doesn’t apply.

If your situation doesn’t match any of the three Section B categories, the IRS says to skip this form and report the issue to the Federal Trade Commission instead.¹

What to Have Ready Before You Start

The form has five required sections. Section A captures your full legal name, current mailing address, and the SSN or ITIN tied to the affected account. If you’ve moved recently, include the address from your last filed return so the IRS can match records. Section B is the type-of-theft checkbox. Section C is where you describe what happened.

Section C is the part that most often decides whether your case moves or stalls. Include how you discovered the theft, the relevant dates, and any police report numbers. A vague description forces the IRS to send follow-up questions, and each round adds months. Write enough that an investigator can understand the scope without contacting you.

You also need a legible photocopy of a government-issued ID. Acceptable options are a driver’s license, U.S. passport, Social Security card, state-issued ID card, or federal employee badge. The ID must accompany the form when you submit by mail or fax; the online submission does not accept attachments.¹

The form is available in English and Spanish. The Spanish version (Formulario 14039) adds a field in Section C where you can select your preferred language for IRS communications.⁴

You sign under penalty of perjury, so review the form carefully before submitting.

How to Submit

Choose one channel. Filing through more than one delays the case.

Online at irs.gov/dmaf/form/f14039. This is the IRS’s preferred method, but it does not accept attachments, so you can’t include ID copies this way.
By fax to 855-807-5720. Include a cover sheet marked “Confidential.”
By mail. If you’re filing a paper tax return at the same time, attach Form 14039 to the back of the return and use the IRS filing address for your state. If you’re sending the form on its own, mail it to Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Fresno, CA 93725.

If the IRS has already sent you a notice about your account, follow the instructions on that notice. Those routes deliver your case to the unit already working it.¹

Filing for a Dependent or Deceased Taxpayer

You can file on behalf of a minor child, a dependent relative, or someone who has died. Each variant has its own paperwork.

Dependents

If a dependent’s SSN was fraudulently claimed, check the box in Section A indicating you’re filing on their behalf, then check box 2 in Section B. Complete Section F to confirm your relationship as parent, legal guardian, fiduciary, or holder of power of attorney. If you can’t e-file your own return because the dependent’s SSN was already used, attach the completed Form 14039 to the back of your paper return and mail it to the IRS filing address for your state. If you aren’t filing a return yourself, mail the form separately to the IRS in Fresno, CA 93725.¹

Deceased Taxpayers

Attachments depend on your relationship to the deceased. A surviving spouse needs nothing beyond the form itself. A court-appointed personal representative attaches a copy of the court certificate showing the appointment. If no personal representative has been appointed, attach a copy of the death certificate or a formal government notification of death sent to the next of kin.

What Happens After You File

The IRS does not send an acknowledgment letter when it receives Form 14039. Internal procedures forbid acknowledgments on identity theft claims to avoid disclosing taxpayer information to the wrong person, so the first communication you’ll receive is the closing letter once the case is resolved.⁵

Your case is assigned to the Identity Theft Victim Assistance (IDTVA) unit. A specialist there determines how many tax years are affected, identifies additional victims listed on the fraudulent return, removes the fake filing from your records, processes your legitimate return, releases any refund you’re owed, and places an identity theft indicator on your account for future protection.⁶

The IRS’s stated goal is 120 days. As of mid-2026, the average resolution time has been closer to 611 days.⁶ The Taxpayer Advocate Service has pushed for an average of 90 days or less by the end of 2026, but whether that target is met remains to be seen.⁷ Keep copies of the completed form, the ID you attached, any IRS notices, and every piece of correspondence during the process.

Once the IRS confirms you were a victim, you’re automatically enrolled in the Identity Protection PIN program. The IRS assigns a six-digit code you must include on every future federal return, and a new code is generated each year.⁸ Filing without the assigned IP PIN causes an e-filed return to be rejected and a paper return to face manual verification and refund delays.⁹

If the Case Stalls or the IRS Says You Aren’t a Victim

If the IRS decides you’re not a victim, you’ll receive appeal rights through the normal compliance process. You can submit new evidence not previously provided, and the Appeals Technical Employee will route the case back to IDTVA for priority review, with a target of 45 days on the redetermination.¹⁰

If the IRS asks you to provide documentation like a police report or a Form 14039 and you miss the 30-day deadline, the agency will proceed as though you’re not a victim. Mark that deadline the day you receive the request.¹⁰

The Taxpayer Advocate Service can step in when an identity theft case is causing genuine financial hardship, such as a pending eviction or an inability to pay for medical care, or when you’ve tried and failed to resolve the issue through normal IRS channels. You can reach TAS at 877-777-4778.¹¹

Two Boundaries Worth Knowing

Form 14039 covers individuals only. If a business, trust, estate, or tax-exempt organization is the victim, or if you’re receiving IRS notices about a business you never created that has an EIN tied to your name, use Form 14039-B instead. The person submitting 14039-B must have legal authority to act for the entity: a sole proprietor, a corporate officer or director, a partner, the managing member of a multi-member LLC, the sole member of a single-member LLC, or a trustee, executor, or other fiduciary.¹²

Filing Form 14039 with the IRS does not notify your state tax department. The form deals only with federal accounts, and there’s no mechanism that shares your report with state agencies.¹ If a fraudulent state return was filed using your information, contact your state’s department of revenue separately; most states have their own affidavit or reporting process. Skip that step and your state account stays exposed even after the IRS resolves the federal side.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Identity Theft Affidavit Form 14039
2
Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP5071 Series Notice
3
Internal Revenue Service. Employment-Related Identity Theft
4
Internal Revenue Service. Formulario 14039 Declaracion Jurada Sobre Robo de Identidad
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Internal Revenue Service. IRM 25.23.2 – Identity Protection and Victim Assistance – General Case Processing
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Internal Revenue Service. How IRS ID Theft Victim Assistance Works
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Taxpayer Advocate Service. Objective 3 2026
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Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions About the Identity Protection Personal Identification Number IP PIN
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Internal Revenue Service. Retrieve Your Identity Protection PIN IP PIN
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Internal Revenue Service. IRM 8.6.5 – Identity Theft Procedures
11
Taxpayer Advocate Service. Identity Theft
12
Internal Revenue Service. Business Identity Theft Affidavit Form 14039-B