Where to Mail Your 83(b) Election: IRS Addresses by State

You mail your 83(b) election to the IRS service center where you file your federal income tax return. Treas. Reg. §1.83-2(c) says the election is made by filing one copy of a written statement "with the internal revenue office with which the person who performed the services files his return," and the Form 15620 instructions repeat the same rule.

For most US founders that means one of three addresses, based on the state you live in: Austin, Texas; Ogden, Utah; or Kansas City, Missouri. The full state list is in the next section. If you would rather not deal with the post office at all, the IRS now lets you submit Form 15620 online, which we cover further down.

The deadline is the same either way. The election must be filed no later than 30 days after the date the property was transferred to you (IRC §83(b)(2)). There is no extension.

Use the Form 1040 "no payment" address for your state of residence. These are the addresses on the IRS page "Where to file paper tax returns with or without a payment," which we checked on October 17, 2026 (page last updated June 8, 2026). Address the envelope to: Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, followed by the city and ZIP below.

The IRS reshuffles these assignments every few years, and older blog posts (including earlier versions of this one) list states that have since moved. Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas founders now go to Austin, and California and Washington founders go to Ogden. Check the IRS page on the day you mail.

The state of your incorporation does not matter. A Delaware C-Corp founder who lives in San Francisco mails to Ogden, not Kansas City.

The IRS released Form 15620, Section 83(b) Election, in late 2024 and in mid-2025 opened an online version on IRS.gov. You sign in through ID.me (the same identity check used for an IRS Online Account), answer the form questions, and submit. The system shows a confirmation that the IRS received the election, and you can download the completed form to give to your company.

A few practical points:

• Use one method only. The online form asks you to confirm you have not already mailed an election for the same stock. Filing twice creates processing problems, not extra protection.
• The online route requires Form 15620. A custom election letter drafted by your lawyer can still be mailed, but it cannot be uploaded.
• ID.me verification takes time. First-time identity checks can require a video call. Do this before you sign the stock purchase agreement, not on day 29.
• The 30-day deadline is unchanged. Online submission is simply faster proof that you met it.

We now recommend online filing for most US-resident founders who have a Social Security number. Paper still works and is the fallback if ID.me verification fails.

If you file on paper, send it by USPS Certified Mail and keep the stamped receipt. Under IRC §7502, a document delivered by US mail is treated as filed on the postmark date, and a certified mail receipt is the standard proof of that date. Return receipt (the green card or its electronic version) is optional, but it shows the IRS actually got the envelope.

Ask the clerk to postmark the receipt at the counter rather than dropping the envelope in a box. The receipt, not the IRS acknowledgment, is the evidence you would rely on if the IRS ever claims the election was late.

Private carriers are possible but awkward. The IRS tells private delivery services to use street addresses rather than the ZIP codes above: 3651 S IH35, Austin, TX 78741; 1973 Rulon White Blvd., Ogden, UT 84201; or 333 W. Pershing, Kansas City, MO 64108. Only specific FedEx, UPS and DHL service levels count for §7502 purposes. For a one-page election, certified mail is simpler.

Many founders include a second copy and a self-addressed stamped envelope with a note asking the IRS to date-stamp and return it. The IRS often does, but it is not required to, so do not wait on that copy as your proof.

Send one signed election. You can use Form 15620 or a written statement that meets Treas. Reg. §1.83-2(e). Either way it must show:

1. Your name, address and taxpayer identification number (SSN or ITIN).
2. A description of the property, including the number of shares (for example, "4,000,000 shares of common stock of Acme, Inc.").
3. The date of transfer and the taxable year of the election (for example, "calendar year 2026").
4. The restrictions on the stock, usually the company's repurchase right under the vesting schedule.
5. The fair market value at transfer, determined without regard to lapse restrictions.
6. The amount you paid.
7. The amount to include in income (value minus amount paid, often zero for founders).

Sign and date it. Form 15620 also has an optional box for the company's name and EIN. If your spouse has a community property interest (California, Texas, Washington and several other states), many lawyers have the spouse sign a consent as well; ask whoever drafted your stock purchase agreement.

You must give a copy of the election to the company that issued the shares (Treas. Reg. §1.83-2(d)). If the stock went to someone other than you, such as a trust, that transferee gets a copy too. Send the company copy the same day and ask that it go in the corporate minute book. Investors' lawyers will ask for it in due diligence.

You no longer need to attach a copy to your individual return. The IRS removed that requirement for elections made after 2015, so older guides that tell you to staple it to your Form 1040 are out of date. Keep your own copy, the certified mail receipt or online confirmation, and any IRS-stamped copy permanently. You will need them when you sell, possibly a decade later.

If you moved recently, mail to the service center that matches the state where you will file your return for the year of the transfer, which in practice means your current state of residence. The regulation ties the filing location to where you file your return, not to where you filed last year or where the company is incorporated. If you moved from New York to Texas in March and receive founder shares in April, Austin is the right address. The IRS forwards misdirected mail between centers, and a timely postmark still controls, but sending it correctly avoids the question.

Non-US founders are the harder case. Neither the regulation nor the Form 15620 instructions give a separate address for someone who does not file a US return. The common practice, and what we do for foreign founders of Delaware C-Corps, is to mail to the address used for Form 1040-NR without payment: Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Austin, TX 73301-0215, USA. A US resident abroad filing a regular Form 1040 uses the international Form 1040 address instead.

Foreign founders usually cannot use the online option without an SSN or ITIN and a successful ID.me check, so plan on international courier time to a US address and get the certified mail receipt postmarked in the US where possible. Filing early helps: the regulation allows the election to be filed before the transfer date as long as it is filed no later than 30 days after.

For founders we work with, the 83(b) election is prepared alongside the restricted stock purchase agreement and signed in the same sitting, then filed online or mailed the same week with the receipt saved to the company's records. The point is to make the deadline a non-event.

If you are doing it yourself, the checklist is short: confirm the transfer date, complete Form 15620, file online or send by certified mail to the address for your state, give the company a copy, and file the proof somewhere you will find it in ten years. Addresses and IRS procedures here were checked on October 17, 2026, and this is general information, not tax advice for your specific facts.