Updating IRS Records: Form 8822-B for Address or Responsible Party

Form 8822-B is the IRS form that a business, trust, estate, or tax-exempt organization with an Employer Identification Number uses to report a change of mailing address, physical business location, or responsible party. It has to be mailed on paper, and a change in responsible party must be reported within 60 days of the change taking effect.¹ There is no direct penalty for skipping it, but the indirect costs of letting the IRS write to an old address are steep.

When You Need to File

Three events trigger the filing requirement: a new mailing address, a new physical business location, or a new responsible party. Any entity that holds an EIN is covered, including corporations, partnerships, LLCs, sole proprietors with an EIN, trusts, estates, and nonprofits, whether or not the entity is currently active.²

Sole proprietors with an EIN often need two forms when they move. Form 8822-B updates the business record. Form 8822 updates your personal record for individual income tax. Neither one updates the other.¹

One boundary worth naming up front. Filing Form 8822-B only reaches the IRS. It does not notify your state’s secretary of state, your state tax agency, or any other government body; those updates are separate filings, and state address updates typically run between $5 and $35.

Who the Responsible Party Is

The responsible party is the individual who ultimately controls the entity and its finances. It has to be a real person, not another entity. The only exception is for government agencies, which can name a representative body.³

Corporation: a principal officer such as the president, vice president, or treasurer.
Partnership: a general partner.
Tax-exempt organization: the principal officer.
Trust: the grantor, owner, or trustor.
Estate: the executor, administrator, or personal representative.

When any of those individuals changes because of a resignation, appointment, death, or restructuring, the entity has 60 days to file Form 8822-B naming the new person.³

Information You’ll Need

Have everything in hand before you start; incomplete forms stall the update.

The entity’s full legal name as it appears on the original EIN application, plus the nine-digit EIN.
The old mailing address currently on file with the IRS.
The new mailing address where you want IRS mail sent.
The physical business location, if different from the mailing address.
The new responsible party’s full legal name and identification number: SSN, ITIN, or in limited cases an EIN.

The form has checkboxes for which change you are reporting. If your physical location and mailing address differ, complete both sections.¹

Putting a Social Security Number on a paper form is uncomfortable, and reasonably so. The IRS relies on Internal Revenue Code sections 6001, 6011, and 6109 to require an identifying number so it can match the update to the right account.¹ Mail the form on its own, using a secure method, rather than tucking it in with other correspondence.

Who Can Sign

Only certain people can sign Form 8822-B: an officer (president, vice president, treasurer, chief accounting officer), an owner, a general partner, an LLC member-manager, a plan administrator, or a fiduciary. A CPA or attorney can sign on the entity’s behalf only by attaching a valid power of attorney, typically Form 2848.¹

The IRS rejects submissions signed by unauthorized third parties. A bookkeeper or assistant who normally handles tax paperwork cannot sign this one without a power of attorney on file.

Where to Mail It

Form 8822-B cannot be filed electronically. It goes to one of two IRS centers, based on the state where the business was previously located: Kansas City, MO 64999 or Ogden, UT 84201. The IRS publishes the current state-by-state assignment, and sending it to the wrong center causes delays, so confirm before you mail.⁴

Keep Proof You Mailed It

The IRS does not send a confirmation once it processes the change. Your proof lives in your own mailing records. USPS certified mail with a return receipt is the standard choice; it gives you both a send date and a delivery date.⁵ IRS-designated private delivery services from DHL Express, FedEx, and UPS also work, but only specific service tiers qualify; check the IRS list first (FedEx Priority Overnight is on it, FedEx Ground is not).⁶ Keep a copy of the completed form with the mailing receipt. Those records matter if the IRS later claims you missed the 60-day deadline.

How Long Processing Takes

The IRS generally takes four to six weeks to update its records after receiving the form. During that window, mail may still go to the old address. If you’re expecting time-sensitive correspondence, contact the IRS directly to flag the pending change instead of relying on the form alone. The current version is at irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8822-b.²

What Happens If You Don’t File

The form itself says there is no direct penalty for failing to file.¹ The problem is what happens when the IRS mails a notice of deficiency to an address you no longer use.

Under federal law, a notice of deficiency mailed to your “last known address” is legally valid whether or not the entity receives it.⁷ The 90-day window to petition the Tax Court starts on the mailing date. Miss it, and the IRS can assess the full deficiency without you ever getting to dispute it, while penalties and interest accrue in the background.¹

The IRS treats “last known address” as the address on your most recently filed and properly processed return, unless you have given clear notification of a change. Form 8822-B is the clearest way to give that notification.⁸

If Someone Files a Fraudulent Change

Unauthorized responsible party changes are a known route for business identity theft. If you receive IRS correspondence referencing a change you did not authorize, report it using Form 14039-B, the Business Identity Theft Affidavit, and act quickly.⁹

1
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8822-B – Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business
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Internal Revenue Service. Responsible Parties and Nominees
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Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Form 8822-B
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Taxpayer Advocate Service. Taxpayer Mails Return
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Internal Revenue Service. Private Delivery Services (PDS)
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6212 – Notice of Deficiency
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Internal Revenue Service. Statutory Notices of Deficiency
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Internal Revenue Service. Report Identity Theft for a Business