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Quick answer: Fax Form 8918 to the IRS Office of Tax Shelter Analysis (OTSA) on 1-844-253-5607, toll-free. The line takes Form 8918 and its attachments only, up to 100 pages a fax. Send one Form 8918 per fax, signed, with a cover sheet headed “Subject: Form 8918” and no EIN or SSN on it. Keep your fax transmission log: the IRS says it won’t send a fax confirmation.
Form 8918, the Material Advisor Disclosure Statement, is how an adviser tells the IRS about a reportable transaction they helped with. It replaced Form 8264. The taxpayer who takes part in the transaction files its own disclosure, Form 8886; Form 8918 is the adviser’s side.
Are you a material adviser?
You are if both tests apply to the same transaction: you provide material aid, assistance or advice on it, and you receive, or expect to receive, gross income above the threshold for that kind of transaction.
Gross income thresholds
Per transaction. The lower figures apply to listed transactions; transactions of interest may have reduced thresholds set in their own guidance.
| Transaction | Threshold | If it’s a listed transaction |
|---|---|---|
| Substantially all the tax benefits go to individuals (generally 70% or more) | $50,000 | $10,000 |
| All other transactions | $250,000 | $25,000 |
When it’s due
By the last day of the month after the end of the calendar quarter in which you became a material adviser. Become one in February, for example, and the quarter ends on 31 March, so Form 8918 is due by 30 April.
If several advisers worked on the same transaction, they can agree in writing that one of them files for the group. That agreement doesn’t protect the others if the designated adviser doesn’t file on time.
Sending it
- Electronic fax: 1-844-253-5607 (toll-free). Form 8918 and related attachments only; the IRS says other items sent there won’t be processed.
- Cover sheet: “Subject: Form 8918”, the sender’s name, title, phone number and address, the material adviser’s name, the date, and the number of pages including the cover sheet. No sensitive information such as an EIN or SSN.
- One form per fax, signed before you send it.
- Size: no more than 100 pages per fax.
- No electronic fax? Post it to OTSA Mail Stop 4915, 1973 Rulon White Blvd., Ogden, Utah 84201.
The IRS’s page on faxing Form 8918 adds three rules: send only one Form 8918 per fax, sign it before you fax it, and keep a copy of your fax transmission log, because the IRS won’t provide a fax confirmation of receipt. (The form’s instructions mention a receipt confirming submission; for a fax, plan on the log being your only proof.)
After you file: the reportable transaction number
The IRS gives the transaction a reportable transaction number, and you have to pass it to every taxpayer and material adviser you advised on it. If they entered the transaction before you received the number, you have 60 calendar days from the date the number was mailed to you. The number doesn’t mean the IRS has reviewed the transaction.
Keep the list. A material adviser has to keep a list of everyone they advised on the transaction, for seven years, and hand it over within 20 business days of a written IRS request. Miss that and the penalty is $10,000 for each day after the 20th business day.
Penalties for not filing
Under section 6707, failing to file a complete and timely Form 8918 costs $50,000 for a reportable transaction. For a listed transaction it’s the greater of $200,000 or 50% of the gross income from the advice, rising to 75% if the failure was intentional.
Filing on a protective basis
Not sure the transaction needs disclosing? You can file protectively: answer “Yes” at item B and explain on line 6a why the filing is protective. The form still has to be complete.
How to fax Form 8918
- Complete Form 8918 in full, with the attachments it calls for.
- Add a cover sheet with the subject “Form 8918” and the page count, and nothing sensitive. Our fax cover sheet generator makes one.
- Check the total is 100 pages or fewer.
- Fax it to 1-844-253-5607 by the end of the month after the quarter you became a material adviser.
- Keep the fax transmission log; it’s your proof, because the IRS won’t send a confirmation.
Firms filing several of these can fax straight from email with EveryFax, which has a two-week trial. Municorn Fax sends a single filing from a phone or computer and keeps the confirmation; your first single-page test fax is free.
Does every adviser on the deal have to file Form 8918?
Is the fax number the same as the one for Form 8886?
Does getting a reportable transaction number mean the IRS has approved the transaction?
Faxing another IRS form? See our list of IRS fax numbers, including the forms sent by businesses and tax professionals.
Sources and IRS references
- Taxpayers can now fax Form 8918: one form per fax, the cover sheet, signing, and no IRS fax confirmation. IRS page last reviewed 14 September 2026; checked 10 October 2026. irs.gov
- Instructions for Form 8918 (Rev. 11/2021): the two material adviser tests, the thresholds, the deadline, designation agreements, the reportable transaction number, list keeping, penalties and the OTSA fax. IRS page last reviewed 30 April 2026; checked 9 October 2026. irs.gov
