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It depends on your state and whether you enclose a payment. Returns without a payment go to an IRS processing center in Austin, Kansas City, or Ogden; returns with a check go to a lockbox in Charlotte or Louisville. Look up the current table on the IRS where-to-file page, and mail certified for proof.
This is general information, not tax advice.
Go to the IRS "Where to File Addresses for Taxpayers Filing Form 1040" page on irs.gov and find your state in the table. The table splits every state into two tracks: one address if you are not enclosing a payment, a different one if you are. The official page is here: irs.gov where-to-file addresses. Check it every year you file on paper, because the IRS moves addresses between tax years; the address you used last year may no longer be right.
| If you live in... | Without a payment, mail to | With a payment, mail to |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas | Austin, TX | Charlotte, NC lockbox |
| Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin | Kansas City, MO | Louisville, KY lockbox |
| Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming | Ogden, UT | Louisville, KY lockbox |
| Arizona, Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma | Austin, TX | Louisville, KY lockbox |
These groupings are for Form 1040 and 1040-SR for the current tax year. Other forms, estimated payments (1040-ES), and business returns have their own where-to-file pages, so do not assume one address covers everything you mail to the IRS.
Because payments go to bank lockboxes, not processing centers. When you include a check, your envelope is routed to a lockbox in Charlotte or Louisville where the payment is pulled and deposited quickly, while the return itself is forwarded for processing. Mailing a check to the no-payment processing center is one of the most common paper-filing mistakes: the return sits in the wrong building while nobody cashes your check. If you are paying electronically through IRS Direct Pay or EFTPS, use the no-payment address, since there is no check in the envelope.
For paper returns, the postmark is the filing date. A return postmarked on April 15 counts as filed on April 15 even if it arrives days later. That makes proof of mailing the single most important part of paper filing. Send the return by Certified Mail with Return Receipt at the post office counter, and keep both the mailing receipt and the signed receipt card. Registered Mail works too. The receipt card comes back with the IRS's signature stamp, which settles any dispute about when your return entered the system.
If you use FedEx, UPS, or DHL instead of USPS, you must use the IRS's separate private-delivery addresses, not the PO Box addresses above. Private carriers cannot deliver to a PO Box. The IRS publishes a list of designated private delivery services and their street addresses, and only those services count for the timely-mailing rule. Miss this detail and your "on time" filing may be treated as late.
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