How to Change Your Address with IRS

Caution: This explanation is general in nature and should not be used for specific planning. Contact a tax professional for your specific planning needs.

Change of Address

A taxpayer’s last known address is the address on the most recently filed and properly processed return unless the taxpayer has given the IRS notice of a different address.

When a notice is sent to a taxpayer’s last known address, the notice or document is legally effective, even if the taxpayer never receives it.

A taxpayer who changes address after filing their return should notify the post office servicing their old address that their address has changed. In addition, taxpayers changing address after filing their return should directly notify the IRS of their new address by completing and mailing:

  1. Form 8822, Change of Address (For Individual, Gift, Estate, or Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Return), or
  2. Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business (for employment,
    excise, income and other business returns, and tax-exempt organization returns).

Taxpayers may also write a letter to notify the IRS that their address has changed. When writing a change of address letter to the IRS, taxpayers should include the following:

  • Full name:
  • Old and new addresses;
  • Social security number (SSN), individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) and/or employer identification number (EIN); and
  • Their signature

Taxpayers who file a joint return with their spouse should include, in their change of address letter, the above information (i.e., full number, old and new addresses, etc.) for both spouses and have both spouses sign the letter.

Taxpayers who previously filed a joint return and now have separate residences, should each separately notify the IRS of their new separate address.

A taxpayer’s IRS change of address letter should be mailed to the IRS address listed in the instructions to the tax forms the taxpayer filed. For example, individual taxpayers filing Form 1040 would send their change of address letters to the IRS Service Center where they would file their Form 1040, if they filed their Form 1040 on paper.

A taxpayer’s Form 8822 should be sent to the address provided in the instructions to Form 8822. A taxpayer’s Form 8822-B should be sent to the address provided in the instructions Form 8822-B.

It normally takes 4 to 6 weeks to process a change of address. IRS Service Centers have been closed but are now reopening, therefore, a backlog of work may have developed which could extend the processing time for a change of address.

 

 We are accepting new clients and appreciate the referrals that you make.