Form 911 Step by Step: How to Ask the Taxpayer Advocate Service for Help

The Taxpayer Advocate Service is the part of the IRS whose job is to take your side when the rest of the IRS is not working. You ask for its help with Form 911. The current version is Form 911 (Rev. 6-2026), titled Request for Taxpayer Advocate Service Assistance (and Application for Taxpayer Assistance Order).

That second half of the title matters. Under Treasury Regulation 301.7811-1(b), a request for a Taxpayer Assistance Order is made on Form 911 or in a written statement that gives TAS enough information to determine the nature of the harm or the need for assistance. So the same form that asks for help also asks for the Advocate's strongest remedy. See Taxpayer Assistance Orders.

If you have not read it yet, start with the general overview of the Taxpayer Advocate Service. Then check whether your problem fits the TAS case acceptance criteria. If it does, this is how to fill out the form.

Before you start: gather four things

1. The IRS letters and notices about the problem, in date order.
2. A timeline of every contact you have had with the IRS on this issue: date, method, who you spoke to, what they said, and any date they promised.
3. Proof of the harm, if harm is your reason: a levy notice, an eviction or foreclosure notice, a shutoff notice, medical bills, a letter from your employer.
4. Any authorization on file for someone helping you: a Form 2848 or Form 8821.

Section I: Taxpayer information, line by line

Lines 1a and 1b. Your name exactly as shown on the tax return, and your taxpayer identification number. For individuals that is your Social Security number or ITIN. For businesses it is the EIN.

Lines 2a and 2b. Your spouse's name and number, if the request relates to a joint return.

Lines 3a through 3d. Your current mailing address.

Line 4. A daytime phone number you actually answer.

Line 5. Email address. Read this one carefully. The instructions say providing an email address indicates you consent to receive and send encrypted emails containing confidential information about your tax issue. If you do not want TAS to email you, leave it blank.

Line 6. Fax number, if you have one.

Line 7a. Your preferred method for updates: email, letter or phone call. TAS says it will try your preferred method but may use others as needed.

Line 7b. Check this only if you consent to TAS leaving confidential information on your voicemail. If anyone else can hear your voicemail, leave it unchecked.

Line 8. For an entity, the individual authorized to act for it, unless an authorized third party is listed in Section II. For individuals, the instructions say you need an authorized third party under Section II before TAS can share your information with someone else, though information can be shared between married taxpayers who were both on the returns at issue and filed jointly.

Line 9. Preferred language, TTY/TDD needs, or an interpreter, including sign language.

Line 10. The tax form involved: 1040, 941, 720 and so on.

Line 11. The tax years or periods. For employment taxes, list the quarters.

Lines 12a and 12b: the part that decides your case

Everything else on the form is identification. These two lines are your argument.

Line 12a: describe the issue and the difficulty it causes. The instructions ask you to specify the actions the IRS has taken, or not taken, to resolve the issue, and if the issue involves an IRS delay of more than 30 days, to give the date you first contacted the IRS for help.

Write it like a short memo, not a complaint. A good 12a has three parts:

• What happened. "On June 2, 2026, I mailed a response to the CP2000 notice for tax year 2024 with documents showing the 1099-NEC income was reported on Schedule C."
• What the IRS has done since. "I called on July 15 and August 20. On August 20 I was told the response would be processed within 30 days. As of October 1 nothing has changed and I received a balance-due notice dated September 25."
• The harm. "My bank has notified me that the IRS levy will take the funds I need for rent due November 1."

Line 12b: describe the relief you want. Be specific. "Please have the IRS process my June 2 response and adjust the 2024 balance" or "Please have the levy on my checking account released before November 1." The instructions also ask you to submit any documentation you believe would help.

Lines 13 and 14: signatures

Sign and date. If the request is for a joint matter and both spouses are asking, both sign. If only one spouse is asking, only that spouse signs. For a business, a properly authorized officer signs and gives a title.

Read the paragraph above the signature line. By signing, you authorize TAS to contact third parties to respond to your request, and you acknowledge that you will not receive notice under IRC 7602(c) of authorized third parties contacted in connection with the request.

Section II: if someone is helping you

If you have a representative under Form 2848, or a designee under Form 8821, Section II collects that person's name, CAF number, address and phone. Only representatives sign in this section. If a representative submits the Form 911 on your behalf, the instructions say the taxpayer does not need to sign, but the representative should attach a copy of the authorization.

Note what the form says about Form 8821: it does not authorize your appointee to advocate your position, to execute waivers, consents or closing agreements, or otherwise to represent you. If you want someone to argue for you, you need a Form 2848.

How to send it

The Form 911 instructions list three ways:

• Email: tas.form.911.request.for.assistance@irs.gov
• Fax: (855) 828-2723
• Mail: to the address printed in the current Form 911 instructions

From overseas, the instructions list a fax at 1 (304) 707-9793, which is not a toll-free number for U.S. taxpayers, and the same email address.

Two cautions. First, the instructions warn that email submissions are not encrypted, and that by emailing you consent to email as a method of communication about your request. Second, the TAS website says it will not reply to the email itself; a TAS employee will contact you by phone or letter. TAS also lists its toll-free number as 877-777-4778.

What happens next

According to TAS, you should hear back from your assigned advocate within 30 days of submitting Form 911, and resolution can take from a couple of weeks to a couple of months depending on complexity. The form's instructions say that if you do not receive a response within 30 days, send an email to the same address with "No Response" in the subject line.

Do not file a second Form 911 for the same issue. The instructions warn that duplicates may delay processing.

What Form 911 does not do

This is the paragraph to remember. The instructions state that signing the request is not a substitute for any legal or administrative action applicable to your situation and does not suspend any applicable periods for actions related to assessment or collection, such as petitioning the Tax Court or requesting a Collection Due Process hearing.

Asking TAS for help and protecting your deadlines are two separate jobs. Do both.

Also, the instructions say TAS will not consider frivolous arguments raised on the form, and that using the form to raise them may subject you to a $5,000 penalty in addition to other penalties. Stick to facts.

Common Form 911 mistakes

• Leaving 12a vague. "The IRS is wrong" gives the advocate nothing to work with. Dates, amounts and actions do.
• Asking for the impossible. TAS cannot decide how much tax you owe. Ask for something the IRS can lawfully do, like processing a response or releasing a levy.
• Forgetting the documents. Attach the notices and proof that support your description.
• Filing it instead of meeting a deadline. The form does not pause Tax Court or hearing deadlines.
• Filing twice. Duplicates slow things down.

A last tip

The advocate who reads your Form 911 is trying to understand your problem in a few minutes. Make it easy. Put the dates in order. Attach the key letters. Ask for one clear result. A clean, specific request is the fastest route to an advocate who can say yes.