How to Fax IRS Form 56 to the IRS — Notice of Fiduciary Relationship
Form 56 tells the IRS that a fiduciary — an executor of an estate, a trustee, a guardian, or an assignee — now stands in the shoes of a taxpayer and should receive notices and correspondence for them. The instructions direct filers to mail it to the address that matches the fiduciary's location, but faxing becomes appropriate when an assigned IRS unit or a notice about an estate or account in progress provides a fax number. This guide covers that honest use of fax.
Does the IRS accept a fax?
Conditionally — the default filing method in the Instructions for Form 56 is mailing it to the service center for the fiduciary's address. Fax is appropriate when an IRS employee or unit already working an estate, trust, or account matter gives you a fax number, so the fiduciary notice lands directly with the office that needs it.
Finding the official fax number
For a routine filing, Form 56 is mailed to the address the instructions list by location, not faxed to a public line. When a fax is warranted, the number comes from the IRS notice about the estate or account, or from the revenue officer or unit handling it. Take the number from that specific correspondence, and confirm the mailing address in the current instructions if no fax line was provided.
What to include on every page
- The name, address, and identifying number of the person or estate the fiduciary now represents
- The fiduciary's name, address, and the capacity in which they are acting
- The authority for the fiduciary relationship — a will, court order, or trust instrument reference
- The tax forms and years or periods the fiduciary notice covers
- The fiduciary's signature and date, plus any case number from the correspondence
How to fax IRS Form 56 (Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship) to the IRS
- 1Complete Form 56, identifying the taxpayer or estate and the fiduciary's authority and capacity
- 2Confirm whether your situation calls for fax — an assigned unit or notice must provide the number
- 3Take the fax number from the IRS correspondence about the estate or account, not a general listing
- 4Scan or export the signed Form 56 as a clear PDF
- 5Sign in to Send FAX Mail, upload the PDF, enter the fax number from your notice, and send
- 6Keep the dated confirmation with the estate or case file as proof of when you filed
Confirming it arrived
Send FAX Mail returns a dated confirmation the instant the notice reaches the assigned unit's fax line — store it with the estate or trust records. The IRS updates its systems to direct correspondence to the fiduciary once it processes Form 56, which can take time, so the confirmation is your evidence that the fiduciary relationship was reported when a deadline or a misdirected notice is later questioned.
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 56 (Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship) to the IRS — FAQ
Mailing is the standard route — the instructions send it to the service center for the fiduciary's address. Faxing is the exception, used when an IRS unit or notice tied to an estate or account in progress hands you a fax number so the fiduciary notice reaches that office directly.
When there is an active matter — say the estate is already under correspondence or an IRS employee is working the decedent's account — that office may ask for the notice by fax. In that situation the fax gets the fiduciary on record with the exact unit handling the estate, rather than waiting on general mail processing.
State the basis for the fiduciary role — an executor points to the will or letters testamentary, a trustee to the trust instrument, a guardian to the court order. The form asks you to identify that authority so the IRS can verify the relationship before redirecting the taxpayer's correspondence.
Once processed, it tells the IRS to direct the represented taxpayer's or estate's correspondence to the fiduciary. That update is not instant, so the dated fax confirmation is useful proof of when you notified the agency if a notice is misdirected in the interim.
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