Importance of Notifying the IRS of Your Address Change

• Posted on May 26, 2011
• XML
• Questions?
• Share This
• Printable PDF

You might say to yourself, "Why would I want to inform the IRS of my change of address since they will find out when I file my next year's income tax return?"  The following are important reasons for promptly notifying the IRS of your address change.

You may have a refund coming and failure to file the change of address could delay that refund from reaching you.

The IRS may send you correspondence which requires a timely response.  By mailing that correspondence to your last known address, the IRS fulfills their legal notification requirements and any repercussions as a result of your lack of response becomes your responsibility, even if you never received the notice.

Therefore, it is always good practice to promptly notify the IRS of an address change by filing Form 8822.  If this change also affects the mailing address for your children who filed income tax returns, complete and file a separate Form 8822 for each child.

If your post office does not deliver mail to your street address, show your P.O. Box number instead of your street address.  If your address is outside the United States or its possessions/territories, enter the information in the following order: city, province or state, and country.  Follow the country's practice for entering the postal code.  Please do not abbreviate the country name.