TAP 04-045

IRS Correspondence, Change of Address

Statement of Issue:

The broad issue is why taxpayers do not get their mail from the IRS and how the IRS can foster more taxpayers getting their correspondence. The responsibility for proper addresses and reporting address changes to the IRS lies with the taxpayer.

Proposal:

The Area 5 Committee recommended the IRS do the following:

1. Emphasize the importance of filing a Form 8822, Change of Address, more prominently.
   In future revisions of the 1040 Instructions and Publication 17, information related to Form 8822 could be emphasized. Its current placement on page 60 of the 1040 Instructions is buried. It could also be moved to the Important Reminders on page 2 in Publication 17.
2. Clarify in taxpayer materials what is required for a “match.” Taxpayers need to know that name matches are performed when names are exactly identical--like an e-mail address or they will potentially be rejected. “Robert Smith” who sometimes goes by “Bob” or “Robbie” or “Robert Smith, Sr.” will not be a match.
3. Publicize the address change policy. The National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2003 Annual Report recommends advertising through public service announcements the importance to the taxpayer of notifying the IRS of an address change using Form 8822 and inserting a direct link to the form on the home page of the IRS website.