How to Fax Form 14039, the IRS Identity Theft Affidavit
The usual way people find out is an e-file rejection. You submit your return, it bounces back saying a return has already been filed with that Social Security number, and it was not you. That is tax-related identity theft, and Form 14039 is the affidavit that tells the IRS about it.
📌 The fax number is printed on page 2 of Form 14039 itself, below the signature section, alongside the mailing address. Use that rather than a number from a search result. Download the current version of the form from IRS.gov so the destination you are reading is the current one.
First, Check Whether You Should File It
This is the step most guides skip, and it matters. If the IRS has already written to you about the suspicious return with its own instructions, follow those instructions instead. The IRS explicitly says not to send Form 14039 in that situation, and following the letter is faster than starting a parallel process.
Similarly, if there is already a marker on your account from a previous incident, you do not file another affidavit. The form itself warns against filing a second one for the same incident, since duplicates cause delays rather than urgency.
And if the identity theft has nothing to do with tax, a stolen card or a fraudulent loan, the IRS is not the right destination. That is IdentityTheft.gov and the credit bureaus. The IRS limits Form 14039 to matters affecting federal tax administration.
When You Do File It
The clear cases are an e-file rejection because a return already exists under your Social Security number, or an IRS notice about a return you did not file. Less obviously, the IRS also wants the form if you merely suspect someone has unauthorised access to your personal information, before anything has gone wrong on your tax account. Unfamiliar entries on a credit report, unusual charges, a lost wallet, are all reasons to file proactively.
Filing on Someone Else's Behalf
The form has a section for representatives, conservators, parents and guardians, and it is specific about what each situation requires. A surviving spouse filing for a deceased taxpayer needs no attachments, not even a death certificate. A court-appointed personal representative attaches a copy of the court certificate showing the appointment. Where no personal representative has been appointed, a copy of the death certificate or formal government notification is required.
Someone acting under a power of attorney attaches the documentation showing that authority, which is where Form 2848 comes in, covered in our guide to faxing Form 2848 and Form 8821. If you are dealing with a deceased relative's affairs more broadly, our estate documents guide covers the wider paperwork.
Online Versus Fax
Form 14039 can be completed online through an IRS portal, and the guided version walks you through the reason and the years affected. There is one significant limitation: the online portal does not accept attachments.
That decides it for a lot of people. If your situation requires supporting documents, a court certificate, a death certificate, evidence of the fraudulent filing, the online route cannot carry them and fax or post is the answer. If you have nothing to attach, the online route is perfectly reasonable.
The Step That Actually Protects You Next Year
Filing the affidavit resolves the current mess. It does not by itself stop it recurring. The Identity Protection PIN does. It is a separate opt-in programme, and once you have an IP PIN, a return filed without it is rejected, which closes the door on whoever did this.
Request one through the IRS IP PIN page. If you cannot complete the online identity verification, there is an appointment route through a Taxpayer Assistance Center, and an application form that can be sent by mail or fax as an alternative.
What Else to Do
The IRS operates a specialised line for identity theft victims, and calling it after you file gives you a route to somebody who deals with these cases rather than a general queue. Expect the resolution itself to take months rather than weeks, because the IRS has to unpick two conflicting returns.
Be alert to follow-on scams. The IRS does not initiate contact by email, and anyone emailing you about your identity theft case claiming to be the IRS is not. Suspicious messages can be forwarded to the IRS phishing address.
This guide explains how to submit the affidavit. It is not tax or legal advice, and if the identity theft is extensive rather than confined to a single filing, the Taxpayer Advocate Service and a tax professional are both worth involving.
Faxing It for $1.00
1
Check whether to file at all
If an IRS letter already gave you instructions, follow those. Do not send an affidavit on top of them.
2
Complete the affidavit fully
Contact details, plus an explanation of what happened, when you became aware, and the relevant dates.
3
Read the fax number off page 2
It is printed below the signature section, along with the mailing address.
4
Send at faxforadollar.com for $1.00
Up to 10 pages for a dollar, with a timestamped confirmation to keep.
💡 Get an Identity Protection PIN. It is a separate step from the affidavit and it is the thing that actually stops a repeat next year, because a return filed without your IP PIN is rejected. You can request one through the IRS IP PIN page, and if you cannot complete that online there is a Taxpayer Assistance Center appointment route and a mail or fax application as an alternative.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fax number for Form 14039?
It is printed on page 2 of the form itself, below the signature section, alongside the mailing address. Download the current version from IRS.gov and read the number off that, rather than using one found in a search result, since the routing on the form is what the IRS maintains.
Someone already filed a tax return using my Social Security number, what do I do?
If your e-file was rejected as a duplicate, that is the classic case for Form 14039. Complete the affidavit, explain what happened and when you became aware of it, and send it with your paper return if you still need to file. Then request an Identity Protection PIN, which is what prevents a repeat next year.
Should I file Form 14039 if the IRS already sent me a letter?
No. If the IRS has written to you about the suspicious return with its own instructions, follow those instead. The IRS explicitly says not to send Form 14039 in that situation, and following the letter is faster than starting a parallel process alongside it.
Can I file Form 14039 online instead of faxing?
Yes, there is a guided online version. The limitation is that it does not accept attachments. If your situation requires supporting documents such as a court certificate or a death certificate, the online route cannot carry them and fax or post is the answer.
What is the cheapest way to fax Form 14039?
$1.00 at faxforadollar.com for up to 10 pages, with no account and no subscription. The affidavit is a few pages and most submissions fit comfortably. A shipping store charges $3 to $5 per page, which is a poor deal for something you are already dealing with under stress.
What is an IP PIN and do I need one?
An Identity Protection PIN is a number that must appear on your return for it to be accepted. Once you have one, a return filed without it is rejected, which is what actually stops a repeat. Filing the affidavit resolves the current problem; the IP PIN prevents the next one. Request it through the IRS IP PIN page.
What if I cannot get an IP PIN online?
There is an appointment route through a Taxpayer Assistance Center, and an application form that can be submitted by mail or fax as an alternative for those who qualify. The online identity verification defeats a fair number of people, so the alternatives exist for exactly that reason.
Can I file Form 14039 for a deceased relative?
Yes, and the form has a specific section for it. A surviving spouse needs no attachments at all, not even a death certificate. A court-appointed personal representative attaches the court certificate. Where nobody has been appointed, a death certificate or formal government notification is required.
Do I still file my tax return if someone else already filed as me?
Generally yes, on paper, since the e-file route is blocked by the fraudulent filing. The affidavit typically accompanies that paper return. If an IRS letter has given you different instructions for your specific case, follow the letter rather than the general pattern.
How long does the IRS take to resolve identity theft cases?
Months rather than weeks. The IRS has to unpick two conflicting returns and verify which is genuine, and that is slow work. Filing promptly and keeping your transmission confirmation is what you control; the timeline is not. The specialised identity theft line is the better route for status updates.
Do I need a fax machine to send Form 14039?
No. You upload the pages in a browser, type the number from page 2 of the form, and pay. Nothing is installed and no phone line is involved. If the form needs signing, print and sign that page, then photograph or scan it.
What should I write in the explanation section?
What happened, how it affects your tax account, when you became aware of it, and the relevant dates. Be factual and specific rather than lengthy. If you need more space than the form allows, additional pages can be attached, which is another reason the fax route suits situations the online form cannot handle.
Is my situation tax-related identity theft or ordinary identity theft?
If it affects federal tax administration, a fraudulent return, a rejected e-file, an IRS notice about income you never earned, it is tax-related and Form 14039 applies. A stolen card or a fraudulent loan is not, and belongs at IdentityTheft.gov and with the credit bureaus instead.
Should I file Form 14039 if I only suspect a problem?
The IRS does want the form in that case. If unfamiliar entries on a credit report, unusual charges, or a lost wallet suggest someone has unauthorised access to your information, filing proactively lets the IRS mark your account and watch for questionable activity before anything happens.
How many pages will my submission be?
The affidavit itself is a few pages, and with an explanation continuation or a supporting document most submissions land between four and eight. That is inside the $1.00 tier, which covers up to 10 pages. Beyond that it is $1.99 for 11 to 25.
Can I file a second Form 14039 for the same incident?
No, and the form warns against it directly. A second affidavit for the same incident causes delays rather than urgency. If your case appears stalled, the specialised identity theft line is the route to chase it, not a duplicate filing.
Is it safe to fax a form containing my Social Security number?
A fax travels point to point to the number dialled rather than sitting on a mail server, which matters more than usual when identity theft is the subject. Check the destination twice against page 2 of the form. On this service the uploaded file is deleted from the servers once the fax has been sent.
Does the IRS confirm they received my affidavit?
Not by acknowledgement. Your evidence is the transmission confirmation recording the destination, page count, and exact date and time. Given resolution takes months, that record is what tells you when the clock actually started, and it is worth saving outside your inbox.
I got an email from the IRS about my identity theft case, is it real?
Almost certainly not. The IRS does not initiate contact by email, and identity theft victims are a common target for follow-on scams precisely because they are expecting IRS contact. Suspicious messages can be forwarded to the IRS phishing address rather than replied to.
Can someone file Form 14039 on my behalf?
Yes, in defined circumstances: a surviving spouse, a court-appointed representative, a conservator, or someone authorised under a power of attorney. Each requires its own supporting documentation, except the surviving spouse case which requires none. The form's representative section sets out which applies.
What file types can I send?
PDF, Word documents, and images including JPG and PNG. PDF is safest for the form itself. If you are attaching a court certificate or death certificate, scan rather than photograph where possible, since seals and fine printing degrade badly in a phone image.
Can I fax on a weekend?
Yes, the receiving equipment runs continuously and your confirmation records that timestamp, with processing beginning the next business day. Identity theft cases take months regardless, so a weekend send costs nothing and puts an earlier date on the record.
What if my fax fails to go through?
IRS lines are heavily used and a busy signal usually reflects volume rather than a wrong number. A failed send is refunded automatically here, so nothing is lost. Wait an hour and retry, and re-check the number against the current version of the form before assuming it has changed.
Should I also contact the credit bureaus?
If your personal information has been compromised more broadly, yes, and IdentityTheft.gov is the coordinating point for that. Keep any FTC case number and credit bureau correspondence in your records. The IRS handles the tax side only, so the two efforts run in parallel rather than one covering the other.
Do you keep a copy of my form?
No. The file is deleted from the servers once the fax has been sent. You keep your own copy and the confirmation email, and given how long identity theft cases run, both are worth storing somewhere more durable than an email inbox.
Can I attach evidence of the fraudulent filing?
Yes, and this is a strong reason to use fax rather than the online form, which does not accept attachments. Include whatever documents genuinely support your account, labelled with your name and taxpayer identification number, and keep the originals.
Will this delay my refund?
Almost certainly, and there is no way around that. A fraudulent filing has to be unpicked before a legitimate refund can be released, and that takes months. Filing the affidavit promptly is what starts the clock; nothing available to you makes the process itself faster.
Should I call the IRS as well as faxing?
The IRS runs a specialised line for identity theft victims, which is a better route than the general queue because the staff deal with these cases routinely. Call after filing rather than instead of it, and have your transmission date to hand when you do.
Is this page legal advice?
No. It explains how to get the affidavit to the IRS and what the form requires in common situations. If the identity theft extends well beyond a single tax filing, or if the case has stalled for a long time, the Taxpayer Advocate Service is a free independent office inside the IRS and a tax professional may also be worth involving.
Affidavit completed and signed?
Read the fax number off page 2 of the form, send it for $1.00, and keep the timestamped confirmation.
Send a Fax, $1