How to Fax IRS Form 3911 to the IRS — Refund Trace Request
Form 3911 starts a refund trace: you use it to tell the IRS that a refund you were owed never arrived, was lost, or was destroyed, so the agency can track the payment and, if needed, reissue it. The IRS routes 3911 by region — the destination depends on where you would have filed your return — and provides a fax number for many of those regions. This guide covers confirming the right destination and keeping proof of when the trace request went in.
Does the IRS accept a fax?
Yes, for many regions — the IRS provides a fax destination for Form 3911 based on the campus that would have handled your return, though some areas direct it to a mailing address instead. Faxing a refund trace gets it to the processing site quickly; confirm your region's current fax route before sending, since the assignment depends on where you filed.
Finding the official fax number
The destination for a 3911 is tied to the IRS campus for your region or the notice you received about the missing refund. The current fax number is confirmed on IRS.gov's refund-trace guidance or on the correspondence the IRS sent you. Verify your region's routing there each time rather than reusing an old number, because campus assignments and fax lines change.
What to include on every page
- Your name and SSN, and your spouse's name and SSN if it was a joint refund
- The tax year and the type of return the refund was for
- The refund amount you expected and how it was to be paid — check or direct deposit
- Your current address and phone number so the IRS can reach you about the trace
- Your signature and date certifying you did not receive or cash the refund
How to fax IRS Form 3911 (Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund) to the IRS
- 1Complete Form 3911 with the tax year, refund amount, and how the refund was to be delivered
- 2Confirm your region's fax destination on IRS.gov refund-trace guidance or your notice
- 3Make sure the trace applies — verify the refund status before filing the statement
- 4Scan or export the signed 3911 as a clear PDF
- 5Sign in to Send FAX Mail, upload the PDF, enter the verified IRS fax number, and send
- 6Keep the dated confirmation as your record of when the refund trace was requested
Confirming it arrived
Send FAX Mail returns a dated confirmation the moment the statement reaches the IRS fax line — hold on to it while the trace runs. A refund trace can take several weeks, and for a paper check the IRS determines whether it was cashed before reissuing, so the confirmation documents when you started the process if you need to follow up on a slow trace.
What’s current · as of July 2026
Recent updates
Federal agencies still write fax into new rules and notices
The Federal Register — the daily journal of U.S. federal rulemaking — regularly publishes rules and notices that reference fax as an accepted or required submission channel for filings with agencies like the IRS, SSA, and CMS. That is why fax remains a live requirement for many official forms even as electronic portals expand.
Federal Register →
Faxing IRS Form 3911 (Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund) to the IRS — FAQ
File it after enough time has passed that the refund should have arrived and the IRS refund tracker or a notice indicates the payment was issued but you never received it. Filing too early, before the refund has actually been sent, does not start a trace — confirm the refund's status first.
The 3911 goes to the IRS campus for your region, and the fax number depends on where you would have filed your return. Confirm your region's current destination on IRS.gov's refund-trace guidance or on any notice about the missing refund, since these routings vary by area and change over time.
For a paper check, the IRS first determines whether the check was cashed. If it was not, they cancel it and issue a replacement; if it was cashed, they send you a claim package to review the endorsement. Either path takes weeks, which is why keeping your dated fax confirmation helps.
Yes — Form 3911 covers both check and direct-deposit refunds. For a direct deposit that never landed, note that method on the form so the IRS can investigate the routing and account details you gave, rather than treating it as a lost check.
Ready to fax IRS Form 3911 (Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund) to the IRS?
Upload your completed document and send it in seconds — no fax machine required.
7-day free trial · No credit card required