Form 8822-B is the IRS document that notifies the agency when a business entity's mailing address, physical location, or responsible party changes. It is the business-side counterpart to Form 8822, which handles an individual's change of home address, and it is filed separately from any tax return. The form also carries one genuine deadline and one prominent filing restriction that are easy to blur together.
Definition: Form 8822-B is a standalone notification form used to tell the IRS that a business entity's old address, new address, or new responsible party has changed. It does not itself amend a return, grant representation authority, or request a tax account transcript.
What the form actually asks for
The December 2019 revision of Form 8822-B is organized into short, purpose-specific entries rather than a general set of taxpayer identifiers. Entry fields 1 through 3 ask you to identify which records are affected — the business returns, employee-plan returns, and/or the business location that this notification touches. Fields 4a and 4b carry the business name and its EIN. The remaining numbered fields then separate old from new information so the IRS can match the change: field 5 is the old mailing address, field 6 is the new mailing address, field 7 is the new physical business location, field 8 is the new responsible party name, and field 9 is the new responsible party's identification number, which you complete by following the Form SS-4 instructions about who may use an EIN. Field 10 closes the form with the authorized signature, title, and date.
Worth noting for anyone reconstructing this form from memory: the current form has no field for a former party address, and no driver-license field. If you are matching entries against an older checklist or a scanned template, that discrepancy is expected rather than a sign you have the wrong document.
| Entry | What it records | Typical task it serves |
|---|---|---|
| Lines 1–3 | Which business returns, employee-plan returns, and/or location are affected | Scoping a multi-entity or multi-location change |
| Lines 4a–4b | Business name and EIN | Entity matching |
| Line 5 | Old mailing address | Anchor record to the prior IRS record |
| Line 6 | New mailing address | Where future correspondence should go |
| Line 7 | New physical business location | Distinguishes a physical move from a mail-forward |
| Line 8 | New responsible party name | Officer, member, or partner change |
| Line 9 | New responsible party's identification number, per Form SS-4 guidance on who may use an EIN | Verifying the incoming party |
| Line 10 | Authorized signature, title, and date | Form must be signed by the authorized person |
Deadlines, signature, and mailing route
Three rules drive most of the risk here. First, the 60-day rule is narrower than it is commonly stated: an entity with an EIN must report a responsible-party change within 60 days. Do not read that period as applying to every address update on the form.
Second, the form is not an attachment. The instructions for Form 8822-B direct you not to attach the form to a tax return; use the separate mailing instructions instead. Those instructions point you to the current Where to File chart, which you select based on the old business address — not the new one.
Third, the form must be signed by an authorized person. Administrative preparation is not limited to that signer, but the signature itself is. If a representative signs on behalf of the entity, attach a copy of the power of attorney.
What 8822-B does not do
The most common source of confusion is overlap with other IRS authorities. Form 8822-B grants no representation permission and no transcript permission. Representation is established by Form 2848: IRS Power of Attorney and How to Prepare It, while information access is a different task entirely. Fiduciary notification has its own form — see Form 56: Notify the IRS of a Fiduciary Relationship — which addresses a fiduciary relationship rather than ordinary representation. And if a business change coincides with a claim for a deceased person's refund, that refund claim may require Form 1310 depending on its exceptions; that is a separate task, not a side effect of filing 8822-B.
If the goal behind your address change is obtaining account records, that is a transcript request rather than a record-change notice — see Form 4506-T: Prepare a Transcript Request. If the underlying issue is unresolved and you need IRS help beyond normal correspondence, Form 911: Prepare a Taxpayer Advocate Service Request covers a request for TAS assistance under its own source-defined eligibility facts.
It also helps to keep identification concepts distinct in your internal notes; CAF, PTIN and EFIN: Different IDs, Different Jobs is a useful reference when staff conflate them.
Checklist before mailing
- Confirm lines 1–3 match only the records this change actually affects.
- Verify the old address on line 5, since it drives Where to File selection under the current Form 8822-B chart.
- Use line 7 for a genuine physical location change, and line 6 for the mailing destination, rather than duplicating one into the other.
- For a responsible-party change, treat 60 days as a real reporting deadline for entities with an EIN; for a plain address update, do not import that deadline.
- Have the authorized person sign with title and date on line 10, and attach a POA copy if a representative signs.
- Leave the form out of any return envelope and follow the separate mailing instructions.
- Avoid promising anyone a processing speed or a completed IRS record update; the form does not commit to either.
Frequently asked questions
Does the 60-day rule cover every address change?
No. It concerns the responsible-party change. An entity with an EIN must report that change within 60 days, but the deadline should not be generalized to routine address updates.
Can I attach this to a tax return?
No. The Form 8822-B instructions direct you not to attach it to a return; use the separate mailing instructions and the current Where to File chart keyed to the old business address.
Does this replace Form 2848, Form 8821, or Form 56?
No. Those forms carry separate authority or relationship tasks. Form 8822-B only notifies the IRS of a business address, location, or responsible-party change, and confers no representation or transcript permission.
A sensible next step is to draft the form against your own line items, then have the authorized signer review before it goes into the mail.
Individual taxpayers reporting a change of home mailing address use Form 8822, which is separate from Form 8822‑B for business mailing address, location, or responsible party changes.
For tax firms
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