The address Internal Revenue Service, Kansas City, MO 64999-0002 is where residents of roughly 20 eastern and midwestern states plus the District of Columbia mail a paper Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR when they are not enclosing a payment. It is a submission processing center, not a walk-in office, and it is not the address for tax payments of any kind.1Internal Revenue Service. Submission Processing Center Street Addresses for Private Delivery Service (PDS)
Which States Mail Their Return Here
Use this address only if you live in one of the following and are filing a paper Form 1040 or 1040-SR with no check or money order in the envelope:2Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Addresses for Taxpayers and Tax Professionals Filing Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR
- 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
If your state isn’t on this list, your return goes to a different processing center. The IRS occasionally reassigns states between centers, so confirm the current address on the “Where to File” page for the form and tax year you are filing.
Don’t Send Payments to This Address
This is where taxpayers get into trouble. Kansas City, MO 64999-0002 is for returns without payment only. If you owe money and are mailing a check with your Form 1040, both the return and the payment go to a separate facility. For the states listed above, that address is Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 931000, Louisville, KY 40293-1000.3Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Paper Tax Returns With or Without a Payment
Estimated tax payments on Form 1040-ES follow the same pattern. For these same states, 1040-ES payments go to Louisville, KY 40293-1100, not to Kansas City.4Internal Revenue Service. Form 1040-ES Where to File Addresses A payment sent to the wrong address can post late or not at all, which generates penalty and interest notices for a balance you have already paid.
The nine-digit ZIP matters too. The 64999-0002 extension routes envelopes to the 1040 processing unit; other extensions at 64999 handle different forms. Copy the full nine digits from the current-year instructions for the form you are filing rather than reusing an address from last year.
Street Address for FedEx, UPS, and DHL
Private carriers cannot deliver to the 64999 ZIP code. If you are shipping through FedEx, UPS, or DHL, use the physical street address of the processing center: Internal Revenue Submission Processing Center, 333 W. Pershing, Kansas City, MO 64108. All returns from private carriers go to this one street address regardless of whether a payment is enclosed.1Internal Revenue Service. Submission Processing Center Street Addresses for Private Delivery Service (PDS)
Only specific service levels from designated carriers qualify for the timely-mailing rule discussed below. Ground services do not qualify. If you use a non-designated service and the return arrives after the deadline, the IRS treats it as filed late no matter when you shipped it.5Internal Revenue Service. Private Delivery Services (PDS)
Postmark Date and Proof of Mailing
Federal law treats the postmark date as the filing date, provided the return is properly addressed, carries adequate postage, and is deposited in the mail before the deadline expires.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7502 – Timely Mailing Treated as Timely Filing and Paying The practical problem is proving it. A regular first-class postmark can be hard to reconstruct if a return is lost or the IRS records it as arriving late.
Certified mail with a return receipt solves this. It creates a timestamped record of the mailing date and the delivery date, and the receipt serves as prima facie evidence of delivery, shifting the burden to the IRS to prove non-receipt.7Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel. Memorandum Regarding USPS Delivery Confirmation and Section 7502 For a paper return that will already sit in a processing queue for weeks, certified mail is inexpensive protection against a much costlier fight over timeliness.
How Long Processing Takes
Paper returns mailed to Kansas City take considerably longer than e-filed returns. Refund status for an e-filed return is generally available within about 24 hours; for a paper return, it takes roughly four weeks before the return even shows up in the IRS system, and refund issuance can take additional weeks after that.8Internal Revenue Service. IRS Announces First Day of 2026 Filing Season; Online Tools and Resources Help With Tax Filing If speed matters, e-filing with direct deposit is faster and eliminates the risk of a lost or misrouted envelope.