Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization

The taxpayer files the form to name a designee. “Form 8821 authorizes any individual, corporation, firm, organization, or partnership you designate to inspect and/or receive your confidential information verbally or in writing for the type of tax and the years or periods you list on Form 8821.” (source, read 2026-10-20) It is also used to delete or revoke earlier authorizations. (source, read 2026-10-20)

Tax Information Authorization. Let someone inspect or receive your tax information. Match your situation to the condition beside each number, not to whichever number appears first.

Fax Form 8821 from here: upload the pages, then enter the number above whose condition matches yours. FaxMyDoc is a fax service, not the IRS, and is not affiliated with it.

“Form 8821 doesn't authorize your designee to speak on your behalf” (source, read 2026-10-20) To authorize someone to represent you, the instructions say to use Form 2848. (source, read 2026-10-20)

The IRS chart splits fax numbers by where you live. First check line 4: “If you check the box on line 4, mail or fax Form 8821 to the IRS office handling the specific matter.” (source, read 2026-10-20) If you did not check the box on line 4, the chart applies, and you use the fax number on this page that matches your situation. A form with an electronic signature must go online instead. (source, read 2026-10-20) The chart notes: “These numbers may change without notice.” (source, read 2026-10-20)

Alabama through West Virginia group

Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia: one fax number, shown on this page. (source, read 2026-10-20)

Alaska through Wyoming group

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming: a different fax number, shown on this page. (source, read 2026-10-20)

APO, FPO, territories, foreign or outside the U.S., faxing from inside the U.S.

All APO and FPO addresses, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, a foreign country, or otherwise outside the United States: the International CAF Team number. (source, read 2026-10-20)

Same addresses, faxing from outside the U.S.

The chart lists a separate number marked for use from outside the United States. It is shown on this page. (source, read 2026-10-20)

• —Online: “Submit your Form 8821 securely at IRS.gov/Submit8821 .” (source, read 2026-10-20) A Secure Access account is needed. (source, read 2026-10-20)
• —Mail: “Mail your Form 8821 directly to the IRS address in the Where To File Chart .” (source, read 2026-10-20)
• —Fax: send to the IRS fax number in the Where To File chart, using the number on this page that matches your situation. (source, read 2026-10-20)
• —Fax and mail are not open if you use an electronic signature: “you must submit your Form 8821 online.” (source, read 2026-10-20)

The IRS lists these as options; it does not call any of them the best. (source, read 2026-10-20) See which IRS forms can be faxed.

You checked the box on line 4

“If you check the box on line 4, mail or fax Form 8821 to the IRS office handling the specific matter.” (source, read 2026-10-20)

You use an electronic signature

“If you use an electronic signature (see Electronic Signatures below), you must submit your Form 8821 online.” (source, read 2026-10-20)

Both: line 4 checked and an electronic signature

The instructions give both rules and do not say how they fit together for this case. This page does not settle it; confirm the procedure with the IRS before sending. (source, read 2026-10-20)

You did not check line 4 and have no electronic signature

“you can choose how to submit your Form 8821 from the options below.” (source, read 2026-10-20)

• —Line 3: “Don't use a general reference such as "All years," "All periods," or "All taxes."” (source, read 2026-10-20)
• —Line 2: enter the designee's full name and address, and a CAF number or "NONE". (source, read 2026-10-20)
• —Prior forms, per the instructions: “Authorizations listed on prior Forms 8821 are automatically revoked unless you attach copies of your prior Forms 8821 to your new submissions.” (source, read 2026-10-20)
• —Prior forms, per the form: “If the line 4 box is checked, skip this line.” (source, read 2026-10-20) “If the line 4 box isn't checked, the IRS will automatically revoke all prior tax information authorizations on file unless you check the line 5 box and attach a copy of the tax information authorization(s) that you want to retain” (source, read 2026-10-20) The two pages word this differently; the form ties automatic revocation to line 4 not being checked.
• —Signature: the form says “IF NOT COMPLETED, SIGNED, AND DATED, THIS TAX INFORMATION AUTHORIZATION WILL BE RETURNED.” (source, read 2026-10-20)

The instructions say: “For faster processing of certain authorizations, use the all-digital Tax Pro Account at IRS.gov/TaxProAccount .” (source, read 2026-10-20) In that context they say “Most requests record immediately to the Centralized Authorization File (CAF).” (source, read 2026-10-20) This page does not read that as a timing promise for fax or mail. For a purpose other than addressing or resolving a tax matter with the IRS, such as income verification required by a lender, “the IRS must receive the Form 8821 within 120 days of the taxpayer's signature date on the form.” (source, read 2026-10-20) That 120-day requirement does not apply to a form submitted for assistance with a tax matter with the IRS. (source, read 2026-10-20) The IRS also has a processing status page for the form. (source, read 2026-10-20)

“For updates, go to IRS.gov/Form8821 and search under "Recent Developments."” (source, read 2026-10-20) For what a fax confirmation proves, see what a fax confirmation proves. A fax cover sheet is available, and you can send a fax here.

If the IRS has written to you about this form, the number on that letter wins. Correspondence routes to the unit handling your case, and that unit’s fax number is not always the one on the public page.

The oldest reading on this page is from September 13, 2026. A check in our build fails the site when any reading here passes six months. It does not notice the IRS changing a number this morning, which is why the source link and the date sit under every fact. The rest of the IRS record is held to the same rule.

Upload the pages, check the preview, and send. No account, nothing to cancel, and the card is authorized when you press send and charged only once the receiving fax system acknowledges the pages. If it never does, you are not charged. A cover sheet is generated with the routing fields filled in from what you entered.

Every statement above rests on one of these, each read on the date shown. Reviewed October 20, 2026; next review by January 18, 2027.

1. i8821 (Internal Revenue Service, read 2026-10-20)
2. about form 8821 (Internal Revenue Service, read 2026-10-20)
3. f8821 (PDF) (Internal Revenue Service, read 2026-10-20)

• Which IRS forms can be faxed, and which cannot
• What a fax confirmation actually proves