What Form 3911 is for
Form 3911 is the Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund. You fill it out when a refund you already claimed has not reached you, or when the check arrived and then went missing. The IRS uses what you write to trace the refund and, if the rules allow it, send a replacement. The form is short, and the IRS estimates it takes less than 5 minutes.
Individuals and businesses both use it. Individuals give a Social Security number or ITIN, and businesses give an employer identification number. If the refund came from a joint return, both spouses go on the form and both have to sign. You need a separate Form 3911 for every refund you are asking about.
Who files Form 3911?
Use this form if you did not receive your federal tax refund, or if the refund check you received was lost, stolen or destroyed. Individuals and businesses both use it. The form asks for your taxpayer identification number, which is your Social Security number or your ITIN if you are an individual, and your employer identification number if you are a business. If you filed a joint return, put both spouses on the form. Both of you then have to sign it.
When do you use Form 3911?
The form does not carry a filing deadline. You send it when a refund you already claimed has not reached you, or when the check went missing after it arrived. The top of the form reads as a reply to an IRS inquiry about your federal tax refund, with space for the date of that inquiry and the refund period it covered. Complete a separate Form 3911 for each refund you want information about, even if more than one is missing.
Where do you send Form 3911?
Send the form back in the envelope provided, or fax it to the number shown on your copy. If you do not have that envelope, mail the form to the Internal Revenue Service center where you would normally file a paper tax return. Do not mail it to the Rancho Cordova address printed in the Privacy Act notice at the end of the form. That office only takes comments about the time estimate or suggestions for making the form simpler.
How do you fill out Form 3911?
Fill out the entire form. If parts of it do not apply to you, mark those parts N/A. Section I covers your current name, taxpayer identification number, address and a phone number where you can be reached between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., with the area code. Section II is where you check every box that matches what happened to your refund. Section III is the signature. On a joint refund, the IRS cannot start a trace until both spouses have signed.
- You are not required to give the information, because the refund you claimed was already issued.
- Without it, the IRS will not be able to trace your refund and may be unable to replace it.
- You can give the same information in a letter instead.
- By signing, you declare under penalties of perjury that the form is true and complete, and you agree to return one refund if you end up receiving two.
When the IRS cannot replace your check
Two situations on the form limit what the IRS can do. If you received the refund check, signed it, and someone other than you cashed it, the law does not allow a replacement check, because that person did not forge your signature. The second one is timing. If you are holding a check that was not cashed within one year of its issue date, the law means it can no longer be cashed. Contact the service for instructions on how to return that check.
Form 3911 line by line
| Line | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your name and taxpayer identification number: your Social Security number or ITIN, or your employer identification number for a business. |
| 2 | Your spouse's name and taxpayer identification number. If you enter a name here, your spouse must sign on line 11. |
| 3 | Your current address with apartment number, city, state and ZIP code, plus a phone number and area code for 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| 4 | The name or names and the address exactly as they appeared on your tax return. Enter N/A if nothing changed from above. |
| 5 | The name of the representative you authorized to receive your refund check, if you authorized one. |
| 6 | That representative's mailing address, including ZIP code. |
| 7 | Type of return, refund type (check or direct deposit), refund amount, bank name, account type, bank RTN, account number, tax period and date filed. |
| 8 | Check whether you did not receive a refund, or received a check that was lost, stolen or destroyed. |
| 9 | Check this if you received the refund check and signed it. |
| 10 | Your signature and the date. For a business return, the person authorized to sign the check signs here. |
| 11 | Your spouse's signature and date, if required. For a business, enter the title of the person who signed line 10. |
Source: IRS, Form 3911 (Rev. Oct 2022). This page explains the form in plain English. It is not tax advice.