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Quick answer: Fax Form 8821 to the IRS Centralized Authorization File (CAF) unit for your state: 855-214-7519 (Memphis, eastern states) or 855-214-7522 (Ogden, western states). From a US territory, an APO/FPO address or abroad, use 855-772-3156, or 304-707-9785 from outside the US. A faxed 8821 must carry a handwritten signature; a typed or digital one isn’t valid.
Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization, lets someone see your IRS records and receive copies of your notices. That’s all it does. People use it so an accountant can look up a balance, a lender can verify income, or a relative can help make sense of a letter, without handing over the power to act for you.
Form 8821 or Form 2848?
Pick by what the other person needs to do. A designee named on Form 8821 can:
- inspect and receive your confidential tax information for the taxes and years you list
- get copies of your IRS notices, if you tick the box under their name (no more than two designees per matter)
They can’t speak for you, argue your position on the tax law, sign waivers or consents, or represent you in any other way. If you need someone to deal with the IRS on your behalf, that’s Form 2848, a power of attorney. Our Form 2848 guide covers it, and it faxes to the same CAF units.
Where to fax Form 8821
The IRS routes Form 8821 by where you live. These are the CAF unit numbers from the IRS instructions; they can change without notice.
| If you live in… | CAF unit | Fax number |
|---|---|---|
| AL, AR, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MS, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VT, VA, WV | Memphis, TN | 855-214-7519 |
| AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, IA, KS, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, ND, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WI, WY | Ogden, UT | 855-214-7522 |
| APO/FPO addresses, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, or outside the US | International CAF team, Philadelphia, PA | 855-772-3156; 304-707-9785 from outside the US |
Ticked line 4? Don’t use these numbers. Line 4 is for a specific use the IRS doesn’t record on the CAF, such as a disclosure to a loan company or a school, a background check by a government investigator, or questions about W-2, 1099, W-4 or W-7 forms. Those authorisations go to the IRS office handling that matter, or your designee brings a copy to each appointment.
Filling it in so it isn’t sent back
- Line 2, the designee. Give their full name and mailing address, and their nine-digit CAF number if they have one. If they don’t, write “NONE” and the IRS will issue one.
- Line 3, what they can see. Name the type of tax, the form number and the years or periods, for example “Income, 1040, 2023 through 2025”. The IRS returns any form that says “All years”, “All periods” or “All taxes”.
- Future years. The IRS won’t record future periods more than three years past 31 December of the year it receives the form.
- Joint returns. Your 8821 covers only you. Your spouse, or former spouse, files a separate form.
- Line 5, older authorisations. A new 8821 automatically revokes the ones already on file. To keep an earlier one, attach a copy and tick line 5.
Signing it
Sign by hand if you’re faxing or posting the form. The instructions say “Digital, electronic, or typed-font signatures are not valid” on a faxed or mailed 8821; electronic signatures only work through the IRS online submission tool.
For a business, an officer with authority to bind the company signs. For a partnership, it’s someone who was a partner during the period the form covers. A trustee or executor signs for a trust or an estate, and the IRS will want a Form 56 on file as well.
Watch the date if the form isn’t about a tax matter. When an 8821 is for something like income verification for a lender, the IRS must receive it within 120 days of your signature, so sign it close to when it’s sent.
Fax, upload or Tax Pro Account?
There are three ways in. The online submission tool takes a scanned or electronic signature, but you need an IRS Secure Access account to use it. A representative with a Tax Pro Account can submit through that, and the IRS says most of those requests record on the CAF straight away. Fax needs no account at all, only a handwritten signature and the right number from the table above.
How to fax Form 8821
- Download the current form from the IRS Form 8821 page.
- Fill in lines 1 to 3, tick line 4 or line 5 only if they apply, and sign by hand.
- Add a cover sheet with your name, “Form 8821” and the page count. Put only the last four digits of your SSN on it. Our fax cover sheet generator makes one.
- Fax it to the CAF number for your state and keep the transmission report.
No fax machine? Municorn Fax sends the signed form from your phone or computer and keeps the confirmation, and your first single-page test fax is free. EveryFax does the same from your email inbox.
Revoking a Form 8821
Filing a new 8821 revokes the old ones unless you tick line 5. To cancel an authorisation without naming anyone new, write “REVOKE” across the top of a copy of the original, sign and date it again, and fax it to the same CAF unit. A signed letter works too, if it says the authority is revoked, names each designee, and lists the taxes and periods. To cancel everything, it can say “revoke all years/periods”.
Can my designee receive my refund?
Can my designee pass the authorisation to someone else?
Does Form 8821 update my address with the IRS?
Faxing something else to the IRS? Our list of IRS fax numbers covers every form we’ve checked, and the Form 2848 guide is the one to read if your designee needs to act for you, not just look.
