IRS Form 15620 and Section 83b Mailing Rules

Where to mail 83b election paperwork: file your signed Section 83(b) election with the Internal Revenue Service office where you file your federal income tax return—the same campus as a paper Form 1040 without a payment. As of 29 August 2026, that means Ogden, Utah (84201-0002), Kansas City, Missouri (64999-0002), or Austin, Texas (73301-0002) for most U.S. residents, and often Austin (73301-0215) when you file from abroad with Form 2555 or similar international characteristics. Use IRS Form 15620 (April 2025 revision) or equivalent language that satisfies Treasury Regulation §1.83-2(e), seal the signed original, and document delivery with USPS Certified Mail.

30calendar days to file under Treas. Reg. §1.83-2(b) from property transferVerified against 26 CFR §1.83-2 and IRS Form 15620 instructions (April 2025), accessed 29 August 2026.

The election … is made by filing one copy of a written statement with the internal revenue office with which the person who performed the services files his return.

Pair this directory with deadline math in 83(b) deadline & mailing tracker, online filing in how to file Form 15620 online, and expat strategy in Section 83(b) for expats.

Treasury Regulation §1.83-2: the mailing rule in plain English

Section 83(b) election is an irrevocable choice (once valid) to include restricted property in gross income at transfer instead of at vesting. Treasury Regulation §1.83-2 governs timing, manner, content, and copies—not Form 15620 itself, which the IRS added decades later as a convenience format.

Do not reuse stale ZIP codes. Austin 73301-0002 (domestic South) and Austin 73301-0215 (international) are different destinations. Clerky, Carta, and law-firm templates from 2019 are a common failure mode.

Form 15620 field mapping to §1.83-2(e)

Methodology: On 29 August 2026, we cross-walked each Form 15620 box (April 2025 PDF) against the seven mandatory content items in Treas. Reg. §1.83-2(e). The form is a structured implementation of the regulation—not an optional shortcut.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Dataset",
  "name": "IRS Form 15620 to Treas. Reg. §1.83-2(e) field mapping — Section 83(b) elections",
  "description": "Box-by-box crosswalk of IRS Form 15620 (April 2025) to the seven mandatory content elements in 26 CFR §1.83-2(e), compiled August 2026.",
  "creator": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "VestingStrategy.com Research" },
  "datePublished": "2026-08-29",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "isAccessibleForFree": true,
  "url": "https://www.vestingstrategy.com/guides/where-to-mail-83b-election/#dataset-form-15620-83b-mapping",
  "distribution": [
    {
      "@type": "DataDownload",
      "encodingFormat": "text/html",
      "contentUrl": "https://www.vestingstrategy.com/guides/where-to-mail-83b-election/#dataset-form-15620-83b-mapping"
    }
  ]
}

Where I'm less sure—whether IRS mailroom staff reject elections that use a regulation-compliant statement without Form 15620 formatting. Anecdotally, practitioners still file plain-language statements when cap-table complexity does not fit the boxes; the §1.83-2(e) content matters more than the PDF template.

Original research: all 50 states → IRS campus (2025 Form 1040, no payment)

Methodology: On 29 August 2026, we parsed the IRS “Where to file paper tax returns” HTML tables for calendar year 2025 individual Form 1040 returns without an enclosed payment, for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. We normalized each state to one of three campuses and the ZIP+4 suffix -0002 used for routine 1040 filings. Re-verify on IRS.gov the week you mail—campus assignments can change between tax years.

Campus A — Ogden, Utah (84201-0002)

States routed here (17): Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.

Campus B — Kansas City, Missouri (64999-0002)

States routed here (21): Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

Campus C — Austin, Texas (73301-0002)

States routed here (13): Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas.

State-by-state lookup (copy your row)

Source: IRS Where To File — individual Form 1040, no payment enclosed, calendar year 2025 tables.

International & expat mailing (non-U.S. addresses)

If you live outside the United States, use an APO/FPO address, file Form 2555 (Foreign Earned Income), or otherwise match the IRS international Form 1040 characteristics, the calendar year 2025 international table directs Form 1040 without a payment to:

That 0215 suffix is not interchangeable with domestic Austin 73301-0002. Where I'm less sure—dual-status years, ITIN-only filers who have never filed a U.S. return, and green-card holders who recently moved abroad may need a preparer to choose between international Austin and a former U.S. state campus; a one-page cover letter beats guessing.

Envelope template and §1.83-2(d) copy package

Treas. Reg. §1.83-2(d) requires copies to the service recipient (employer) and, when different, the transferee. Mailing to the IRS satisfies only paragraph (c)—not the employer copy.

[Your name — return address]
[Street]
[City, State ZIP]

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Ogden, UT 84201-0002

ATTN: Section 83(b) Election — Jane Doe

Replace Ogden with your campus. Anecdotally, IRS mailrooms route faster when the attention line states Section 83(b)—I haven't tested delivery times across campuses with controlled trials.

Certified mail checklist (execution, not theory)

Certified Mail is not required by §1.83-2, but it is the default proof package because IRC §7502 can treat certain timely U.S. Postal Service postmarks as timely filing even when IRS processing arrives later—facts get litigated near day 30.¹

Working checklist — post office

Critical Warning: Certified Mail proves USPS acceptance—not automatic IRS receipt. File by day 25 when possible; see official 30-day deadline & mailing rules.

Worked example: Marco, founder in Lisbon (U.S. citizen abroad)

Facts (hypothetical): Marco, a U.S. citizen, early-exercised 12,000 unvested shares of Northwind Analytics, Inc. on 10 May 2026 while living in Lisbon. He files Form 2555 on a calendar-year basis and has historically used the international Form 1040 mailing table.

Verdict for Marco: Use international Austin 0215, not domestic 0002, and escalate to counsel if his preparer says he is still a state resident filing domestic 1040—address choice follows return filing location, not where he exercises.

Worked example: Jenna, restricted stock in Brooklyn

Facts (hypothetical): Jenna, a product lead at a NYC fintech, receives 8,000 restricted shares on 1 June 2026. She is a New York resident filing paper Form 1040 without payment.

Jenna should not mail to Ogden because a California colleague did—New York rows point to Kansas City under the 2025 tables.

Steel-man: “FedEx overnight to Austin is safer than Certified Mail”

Best case for overnight courier: You are two business days from the deadline, international postal service is unreliable, or you want signature tracking from a private delivery service (PDS) on the IRS designated list. FedEx and UPS can deliver to IRS campuses with documented chain of custody.

Where couriers disappoint: IRC §7502 postmark rules for U.S. Postal Service mail differ from PDS timeliness tests under Treas. Reg. §301.7502-1. Paying $45+ for overnight (FedEx retail rates checked 14 May 2026) does not cure a missed substantive 30-day transfer window under §1.83-2(b), and mis-addressing 73301-0002 vs 73301-0215 still wastes the spend.

Our position: For domestic employees with 5+ days left, USPS Certified Mail to the correct campus is the right default. Use PDS only with preparer-written instructions—and never substitute courier tracking for confirming the transfer date with Stock Administration.

Common address mistakes (and fixes)

Related guides

Verdict

For the query where to mail 83b election: Treas. Reg. §1.83-2(c) and Form 15620 both point to the IRS office where you file your federal return. Look up your Form 1040 paper filing campus, complete Form 15620 boxes 1–9 (or equivalent §1.83-2(e) language), write the Treasury / IRS / city / ZIP+4 block exactly, add a Section 83(b) attention line, and mail the signed original with USPS Certified Mail documentation. Expats should confirm whether Austin 73301-0215 applies before copying a domestic founder's envelope. Verify IRS.gov the week you mail—strategy articles are useless if the envelope goes to the wrong ZIP.

Primary sources

Footnotes

Disclaimer: This article is educational only and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Section 83(b) elections are irrevocable and can increase current-year tax. Confirm transfer dates, FMV, mailing addresses, and payment obligations with a qualified CPA, enrolled agent, or tax attorney before filing.