Form 3911: how to fill it out and where to send it

What is Form 3911?

Form 3911 is the IRS form you sign to report that a refund the IRS already issued never reached you, or that the paper check arrived and was then lost, stolen or destroyed. Its official title is Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund, and the current version is the October 2022 revision, per the About Form 3911 page.

Sending it starts a refund trace. The IRS checks how the payment went out, and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS), the Treasury office that pays refunds, follows the money. The broader trace process, including online options, is covered in the IRS refund trace guide; this page is about completing and sending the form itself.

The form is short. The IRS estimates it takes under 5 minutes to complete, and each refund needs its own copy: if two tax years are missing, send two forms.

Who has to file Form 3911?

Married couples who filed jointly have to use Form 3911 or talk to an IRS representative to start a trace, because a joint refund belongs to both spouses and the form requires both signatures. Single, head of household and married filing separately filers can usually start a trace online through Where's My Refund or the IRS2Go app instead, and the IRS encourages them to try those first.

The 800-829-1954 automated refund line comes from IRS Tax Topic 152. If you filed jointly, Tax Topic 152 says to call 800-829-1040 or send Form 3911.

When should you send Form 3911?

Send Form 3911 only after the normal delivery window has passed. The IRS says a refund check should arrive within 4 weeks of the date it was issued, and the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) says to wait 5 days past the 21-day processing period for a direct deposit, or 6 weeks after mailing your return for a paper check.

• Check issued April 6: wait until about May 4 before sending the form.
• Direct deposit, return e-filed March 2: a trace becomes reasonable around March 28.
• Deposit sent to a wrong or unfamiliar account: call your bank first; if 2 weeks pass with no result, file Form 3911 so the IRS can contact the bank (IRS direct deposit guidance).

Check Where's My Refund or your IRS online account before you start. If the status still reads Return Received or Refund Approved, the refund has not been paid and a trace request will not be accepted. The missing refund checklist helps you tell a late refund from a lost one.

Form 3911 instructions: filling out each section

Form 3911 has three sections. Anything that does not apply can be marked N/A, and the form asks you to complete every part rather than skip lines.

Top of the form

If the IRS sent you the form, the top line may already show the date of your inquiry and the tax year. If you downloaded it, enter the tax year of the missing refund, for example 2025 for a return filed in 2026.

Section I: who you are and what you were owed

On line 7, copy the refund amount to the dollar from your return and use the bank details you actually entered on the return, even if they were wrong. The trace follows what the IRS was told, not what you meant to type.

Section II: what happened to the refund

Line 8 has a box for a refund you never received and boxes for a check that arrived and was then lost, stolen or destroyed. Line 9 is for a check you received and signed. Tick every box that fits.

Section III: certification

Sign and date line 10. For a joint return, your spouse signs line 11; the IRS will not begin a trace until both signatures are on the form. By signing, you also promise to send one back if two refunds show up.

Form 3911 mailing address and fax number by state

Send Form 3911 to the Refund Inquiry Unit for the state you live in now. As of the IRS page last updated December 4, 2025, there are eight regional units for individual refunds, each with a mailing address and a fax line. Confirm the list on the official About Form 3911 page before sending, since the IRS has changed these addresses before.

Business refunds go to Ogden (states west of the Mississippi, plus Wisconsin) or Cincinnati (states east of it, plus Arkansas and Louisiana). If the IRS mailed you the form with a letter, use the envelope or fax number printed on that letter instead.

Can I fax Form 3911?

Yes. Each Refund Inquiry Unit has a fax number, and the IRS says those lines are for Form 3911 only, so do not fax a cover letter bundle, a copy of your return or other forms to them. Keep the fax confirmation page with the date and the receiving number.

Faxing skips postal transit, which matters when the refund went missing in the mail in the first place. If you mail it, certified mail with a return receipt gives you proof of the date the IRS received it.

Before you send it: a quick check

The most common reason a trace stalls is a missing spouse signature on a joint refund. The second is a form that names a tax year or refund amount that does not match IRS records, which forces the unit to write back to you.

What happens after the IRS gets your Form 3911?

The IRS confirms the refund was issued and asks BFS to trace it. What you get back depends on what BFS finds, as set out in IRS Tax Topic 152 and the IRS direct deposit guidance.

If the trace shows a check was cashed with a signature that was not yours, BFS mails a claim package with a copy of the cashed check. Complete it and send it back as instructed; the review can take up to 6 weeks. The lost refund check page covers that claim in more detail.

For a direct deposit that landed in the wrong account, the IRS asks the bank to return the money. Banks have up to 90 days from the trace request to respond, and resolution can take up to 120 days. The IRS cannot force a bank to return funds; if the bank refuses, the matter becomes a civil dispute between you, the bank and the account owner. See refund sent to the wrong bank account for that case.

If the old check turns up after you asked for a replacement, and it is more than a year past its issue date, it can no longer be cashed; the expired refund check guide explains what to do with it.