The address for mailing a paper Form 1040 depends on the state you live in and whether you’re enclosing a payment. Returns without a payment go to an IRS service center in Austin, Kansas City, or Ogden. Returns with a check or money order go to a separate lockbox in Charlotte or Louisville. Sending your return to the wrong address delays processing, and mixing up the payment and no-payment ZIP extensions can route your envelope to the wrong department inside the same building.
Mailing Address if You Are Not Enclosing a Payment
If you’re getting a refund or owe nothing, use one of the three service center addresses below based on your state of residence. Form 1040-SR uses these same addresses.1Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Tax Returns – Addresses Listed by Return Type
- Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas: Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Austin, TX 73301-0002
- 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, Wisconsin: Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Kansas City, MO 64999-0002
- Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming: Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Ogden, UT 84201-0002
These groupings can shift from year to year, so verify against the current IRS “Where to File” page before mailing.2Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Addresses for Taxpayers and Tax Professionals Filing Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR The ZIP extension matters. A -0002 goes to the return-processing team; other extensions go elsewhere in the same facility.
Mailing Address if You Are Enclosing a Payment
Returns that include a check or money order go to a lockbox facility built for fast payment handling. These addresses are completely different from the no-payment addresses above.2Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Addresses for Taxpayers and Tax Professionals Filing Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR
- Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas: Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 1214, Charlotte, NC 28201-1214
- Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming: Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 931000, Louisville, KY 40293-1000
Almost every state with a payment routes to Louisville. The southeastern block routes to Charlotte. Sending a payment return to the no-payment address in Austin or Ogden means the IRS will eventually redirect it, but payment posting will be delayed and the return can sit in limbo for weeks.
What Goes Inside the Envelope
Sign and date the return at the bottom of page two. On a joint return, both spouses must sign; the most common reason the IRS mails a paper return back is a missing signature. Attach your W-2 forms to the front of the 1040. This step is only for paper filers, and if you e-file the IRS specifically says not to mail W-2s separately.
If you owe, make the check or money order payable to “U.S. Treasury” rather than “IRS.” Write your name and address, daytime phone number, Social Security number or ITIN, the tax year (for example, “2025”), and the form number (“1040”) on the check itself. Don’t staple or paper-clip the check to your return or to the voucher. The IRS scans payments on high-speed equipment, and metal slows it down.
Include Form 1040-V, the payment voucher for individuals, with your check. The voucher helps the IRS match your payment to your return and lists the correct lockbox address for your state. You can download it from the IRS website or find it in the Form 1040 instructions. When you send a payment with Form 1040-V, use regular U.S. mail; the IRS warns that private delivery services can delay payment processing because the lockboxes are set up for USPS.2Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Addresses for Taxpayers and Tax Professionals Filing Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR
Weigh the envelope before you stamp it. A tax return with schedules and attached W-2s usually runs past the one-ounce limit of a single first-class stamp, and insufficient postage can bring the envelope back to you after the deadline has passed.
Filing From Abroad, APO, or FPO
U.S. citizens and resident aliens living abroad, filers using an APO or FPO address, and anyone filing Form 2555 use a single pair of addresses instead of the state-based groupings.3Internal Revenue Service. International – Where to File Form 1040 Addresses for Taxpayers and Tax Professionals
- No payment: Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Austin, TX 73301-0215, USA
- With payment: Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 1303, Charlotte, NC 28201-1303, USA
Residents of American Samoa, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands should check IRS Publication 570, because some territories run their own tax systems and the addresses above may not apply.3Internal Revenue Service. International – Where to File Form 1040 Addresses for Taxpayers and Tax Professionals
Different Address for Amended Returns and Extensions
The addresses above are for an original Form 1040. Two related filings go elsewhere.
Form 1040-X (amended return) goes to Austin, Kansas City, or Ogden based on your current state, but the state groupings differ from the original 1040 groupings, and the ZIP extension changes to -0052.4Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Addresses for Taxpayers and Tax Professionals Filing Form 1040-X Don’t assume the amended address matches your original filing address. International filers send Form 1040-X to Austin, TX 73301-0215. The IRS also accepts e-filed 1040-X for the current and two prior tax years.
Form 4868 (extension) also uses its own addresses. A no-payment extension from Texas, for example, goes to Austin, TX 73301-0045 (note -0045, not -0002), and an extension with payment from Texas goes to P.O. Box 1302, Charlotte, NC 28201-1302.5Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Paper Tax Returns With or Without a Payment The full list is in the Form 4868 instructions. The extension gives you six more months to file, not to pay: any unpaid balance still accrues penalties and interest from April 15 forward.
Get Proof of Mailing
Under federal law, the postmark date counts as your filing date even if the IRS receives the envelope weeks later.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7502 – Timely Mailing Treated as Timely Filing and Paying That protection only helps if you can prove the postmark. Regular first-class mail gives you nothing.
USPS Certified Mail is the standard choice. You get a dated mailing receipt plus tracking, and you can add an electronic return receipt for confirmation of delivery. Registered Mail costs more but provides a full chain of custody, which is worth considering if you’re mailing very close to the deadline.
The IRS also accepts specific service levels from DHL Express, FedEx, and UPS under the timely-mailing rule.7Internal Revenue Service. Private Delivery Services (PDS) Qualifying FedEx options include First Overnight, Priority Overnight, Standard Overnight, and 2 Day. For UPS, Next Day Air and 2nd Day Air qualify. Not every service level from these carriers counts, so check the current IRS list before you ship.
One catch worth planning around: if you’re enclosing a payment, the IRS wants USPS, not a private carrier, because payment lockboxes aren’t set up to receive PDS deliveries and payment processing can be delayed.8Internal Revenue Service. Pay by Check or Money Order If you owe money and want tracked delivery, mail the whole packet via USPS Certified Mail. If you’d rather use a PDS, pay electronically through IRS Direct Pay and mail the return without a check.
Keep the receipt. If the IRS later claims it never received your return, that stamped receipt is what protects your filing date, your refund, and your penalty exposure.