Where to Send an 83(b) Election: Address, Deadline, and Proof

Send your Section 83(b) election to the IRS Service Center where you file your Form 1040, or file it electronically through your IRS online account using Form 15620.¹ The paper address depends on the state you live in. Whichever route you choose, the statement must reach the IRS (or be postmarked) within 30 days of the date the restricted property was transferred to you.² Miss that window by a day and the election is gone. There is no cure.

Filing Electronically Through the IRS Portal

Form 15620 is the IRS’s standardized 83(b) election form, and you can submit it electronically through an IRS online account.¹ The system confirms receipt immediately and lets you download a copy for your records. That instant confirmation is the biggest reason to file electronically: with paper, you rely on a postmark receipt and a date-stamped copy the IRS may send back weeks later.

Your IRS account has to be verified through the agency’s identity-proofing process before you can file this way. Electronic filing supplements paper filing rather than replacing it, so mailing is still available if you prefer. The 30-day deadline is the same either way, and you still have to give a copy to the company that transferred the shares.

Where to Mail a Paper 83(b) Election

If you file by mail, send the election to the IRS Service Center where you would file your Form 1040.¹ Treasury Regulation 1.83-2 puts it in regulatory language: the statement goes to “the internal revenue office with whom the person who performed the services files his return.”³ In practice, that means the address depends on your state.

For individual filers not enclosing a payment, the current groupings are:⁴

Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Austin, TX 73301-0002: for residents of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Kansas City, MO 64999-0002: for residents of Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Ogden, UT 84201-0002: for residents of Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

These addresses change when the IRS consolidates processing centers. Confirm the current one on the IRS “Where to File” page for Form 1040 before you drop anything in the mail. A wrong address is your problem, not the IRS’s, and a delay caused by one can push your election past the 30-day mark.

The 30-Day Deadline

The election must be filed no later than 30 days after the date the property was transferred to you.² This is statutory. The IRS has no authority to extend it, no reasonable-cause exception applies, and there is no procedure for a late election. Once day 31 arrives, the door is closed.

One narrow exception exists for the calendar itself. If day 30 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline rolls to the next business day. The IRS confirms this on the Form 15620 instructions, citing IRC Section 7503.¹ Legal holidays here mean federal holidays and, for a filing directed to an IRS office in a particular state, that state’s legal holidays.⁵

The clock starts on the transfer date, not the vesting date and not the date you signed a purchase agreement. For most startup equity, transfer is the date you sign the restricted stock purchase agreement and pay for the shares. Get that date wrong and every other date in your timeline shifts. If there is any ambiguity, ask your company’s counsel to confirm the transfer date in writing before you count off 30 days.

Proving You Filed on Time

What matters legally for a paper filing is the postmark date, not the day the IRS opens the envelope. Under IRC Section 7502, the U.S. Postal Service postmark, or the date recorded by an IRS-designated private delivery service, is treated as the filing date.⁶ Regular first-class mail produces no proof of that date. If the IRS later says your election arrived late or never arrived, you have nothing to show.

Certified Mail is the standard choice. The receipt shows the mailing date and is treated as conclusive proof of filing. Registered Mail also works and adds security, at higher cost and slower speed. Either satisfies Section 7502.⁶

An IRS-designated private delivery service is the other option, but only specific service tiers count. The current list:⁷

DHL Express: DHL Express 9:00, 10:30, 12:00, Worldwide, Envelope, Import Express 10:30, Import Express 12:00, and Import Express Worldwide.
FedEx: First Overnight, Priority Overnight, Standard Overnight, 2 Day, International Next Flight Out, International Priority, International First, and International Economy.
UPS: Next Day Air Early A.M., Next Day Air, Next Day Air Saver, 2nd Day Air, 2nd Day Air A.M., Worldwide Express Plus, and Worldwide Express.

UPS Ground, FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery, and standard DHL packages are not on the list. Using a non-designated service means the tracking date is not treated as a postmark and Section 7502 protection is lost. People get caught here by dropping a package at a UPS Store on the assumption that any tracked shipment qualifies. It does not. Check the service tier before you ship.

Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a copy of the election so the IRS can return a date-stamped copy. That returned copy is useful backup, but your certified mail or PDS receipt is the primary evidence. Staple it to your file copy the day you mail the election, and keep it with your permanent records.

Sending a Copy to Your Employer

Filing with the IRS is only half the delivery. You must also furnish a copy of the filed election to the company that transferred the restricted property. If the person who performed the services and the person who received the property are different, both get copies.³ Your company needs this copy to report the ordinary income correctly on your W-2 for the year of transfer.

What Happens If You Miss the Window

There is no fix. The statute says the election “shall be made not later than 30 days after the date of such transfer,” and provides no exception.² Reasonable-cause relief does not apply. The IRS cannot extend the deadline.

The practical consequence: without a valid election, you owe ordinary income tax on the full fair market value of the shares at each vesting date, minus what you paid, and your long-term capital gains holding period does not begin at grant. For equity that appreciates between grant and vesting, the difference can run into tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional tax. That is why the mechanics of getting the envelope postmarked, or the form submitted through your IRS account, matter almost as much as the decision to make the election in the first place. File early in the 30-day window, use a method that produces proof, and confirm the transfer date with your company before you start counting.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Form 15620 – Section 83(b) Election
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S.C. 83 – Property Transferred in Connection With Performance of Services
3
eCFR. 26 CFR 1.83-2 – Election to Include in Gross Income in Year of Transfer
4
Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Addresses for Taxpayers and Tax Professionals Filing Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR
5
eCFR. 26 CFR 301.7503-1 – Time for Performance of Acts Where Last Day Falls on Saturday, Sunday, or Legal Holiday
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S.C. 7502 – Timely Mailing Treated as Timely Filing and Paying
7
Internal Revenue Service. Private Delivery Services (PDS)