After the IRS has already issued a refund you did not get, or a paper check that was lost, stolen, or destroyed. Example: you filed a 2024 Form 1040 on April 10, 2025, expected $842, and the check never arrived. This is not how you file the return itself.

Can I fax my tax return with it?

No. Send Form 3911 only. A tax return faxed to a refund-inquiry number is not filed.

Who signs a joint return?

If you enter a spouse’s name, both of you sign the paper form in ink.

Trace a missing refund by fax

Tell the IRS a refund was issued and you never got it, or the paper check was lost, stolen, or destroyed. Example: 2024 Form 1040, $842, filed April 10, 2025. $9.99. We fax Form 3911 only.

This traces a check the IRS already issued. It does not authorize someone to see your records. That is Form 8821.

The refund you are asking about

Whose return?

A personal return, such as Form 1040, uses a different fax number than a business return.

Name on the return

Example: Jane Example.

Social Security number or EIN

Nine digits. Example: 123-45-6789 for a person, or 12-3456789 for a business.

Spouse’s name, on a joint return

Leave blank if you filed by yourself. If you enter a name, both of you must sign the paper form.

Spouse’s Social Security number

Only if this was a joint return. Example: 987-65-4321.

Street

The address on the return. Example: 100 Main Street.

City

Example: Albany.

State on the return

This picks the IRS campus. A New York personal return goes to Brookhaven. A California personal return goes to Fresno.

ZIP code

Example: 12207.

Phone

Example: 518-555-0100.

Which tax form

The return that claimed the refund. Example: 1040 for a personal return, or 1120 for a corporation.

Refund amount

The dollar amount you expected. Example: 842.00.

Tax year

The year on the return, not the year you are filling this out. Example: 2024.

Date you filed that return

Example: 4/10/2025.

What happened to the refund

These are the boxes on Form 3911. If the check was lost, stolen, or destroyed, we mark both “I received a refund check, but it was” and the reason. If you signed the check and someone else cashed it, the IRS cannot replace it, because your signature was not forged.