IRS mail, tax refunds and bank accounts for full-time RVers
Once the house is sold, two kinds of mail matter more than most: letters from the IRS and anything from your bank. This page sets out what IRS forms and instructions say about your address, how refunds now reach people who move around, and what the federal bank rule says about an address when you don’t have a house. Checked 22 Oct 2026 from IRS and FinCEN pages. It is not tax or legal advice.
New to RV mail? RVers start here: the step-by-step checklist.
Changing your address with the IRS
The IRS lists several ways to update your address (Tax Topic 157, checked 22 Oct 2026):
- On your tax return. If you move before filing, put the new address on the return. The IRS updates its records when the return is processed. Tell your tax preparer too.
- Form 8822, Change of Address. For a move after you file. Mail it to the IRS address listed on the form for the state of your old address. The form says it generally takes 4 to 6 weeks to process.
- In writing. A signed letter with your full name, old and new addresses, and Social Security number (both spouses’ names, numbers and signatures if you filed jointly), sent to the address in your tax form instructions.
- By phone. Give the same details. The IRS may ask more questions to confirm who you are.
Two lines in the IRS material matter a lot to RVers:
- The Post Office isn’t enough. Tax Topic 157 says to notify the Post Office that served your old address, but “because not all post offices forward government checks,” you should also tell the IRS directly.
- Missing the mail doesn’t stop the clock. The Form 8822 privacy notice says that if you don’t give the IRS your current address, you may not receive a notice of deficiency or a notice and demand for tax, and penalties and interest keep adding up anyway.
P.O. boxes, private mailboxes and “in care of”
Form 8822 and the Form 1040 instructions both say to enter a P.O. box number “only if your post office does not deliver mail to your street address” (1040 wording: “to your home”). Those IRS instructions talk about P.O. boxes and don’t mention private mailboxes at mail forwarding companies; we didn’t find an IRS page that addresses them directly. Form 8822 does allow an “in care of” address: if your mail goes through a third party such as an accountant or attorney, you enter “C/O” followed by that person’s name and street address or P.O. box.
Whatever address you use, make sure it’s one where mail actually reaches you, and that your forwarder ships it often enough. IRS notices often come with response deadlines; the refund notice below gives you 30 days.
Tax refunds now go electronic
Under Executive Order 14247, the IRS began phasing out paper refund checks for individual taxpayers on Sept. 30, 2025 (IRS news release, 23 Sep 2025). The IRS gave two reasons that matter on the road. Paper checks are “over 16 times more likely to be lost, stolen, altered, or delayed.” And e-filed returns with direct deposit are usually paid in less than 21 days when there are no problems, while mailed refunds “may take 6 weeks or longer.”
According to the IRS “About refunds” page, a refund can go to:
- a bank or credit union account,
- a payment app, prepaid debit card or digital wallet, as long as it has an account and routing number, or
- an IRA.
You enter the account and routing number on your tax return.
If you get a CP53E notice
The IRS sends a CP53E notice when your return shows a refund but the bank information is missing, invalid or rejected (IRS “Understanding your CP53E notice” page, checked 22 Oct 2026). You then have 30 days to add or update a bank account in your IRS online account, or to choose an exception that allows a paper check. If you don’t act within those 30 days, the IRS says it will issue a paper check six weeks after the notice date (IRS filing-season news release, 2026). For a full-timer, that notice travels through your forwarder before it reaches you, so those 30 days can be mostly used up when you open it. Setting up direct deposit on the return avoids the problem.
Bank accounts without a house
Every bank has to run a Customer Identification Program under federal rules (31 CFR 1020.220). Before opening an account, it has to collect your name, date of birth, a taxpayer ID number, and an address, which for an individual means:
- a residential or business street address, or
- if you have neither, an APO or FPO box number, or the residential or business street address of next of kin or another contact person.
Federal interpretive guidance (FinCEN interagency guidance, January 2004) adds that a rural route mailbox number is acceptable, and that if there is no such number and no contact’s address, “a description of the customer’s physical location will suffice.” The same guidance points out that a P.O. box, unlike a rural route number, doesn’t describe where you can be found.
The rule sets a minimum. Each bank writes its own risk-based procedures and decides how to verify you, using documents such as a driver license or checks against credit bureau and public records. So one bank may take a mail forwarding address and another may flag it. The rule doesn’t promise you’ll get an account; it only says what the bank has to collect.
Practical steps before you hit the road
- Open or update accounts while you still have a house, or at least while you have your new state’s driver license in hand, so the address on your ID and your bank records match.
- Ask your bank directly whether it accepts your forwarder address as your mailing address, and what it wants on file as your residential address.
- Plan for mailed cards. Replacement debit and credit cards come by mail. Know how your forwarder handles them and how fast it can ship to you. See check deposit and package forwarding for what mailbox services do with checks.
- Keep one set of addresses. Using the same domicile address for your license, vehicle registration, voter registration, IRS and bank keeps your records consistent. The domicile guide covers what each state counts as residence and notes that South Dakota, Texas and Florida have no state income tax.
Running a business? The bank, Stripe and Mercury address guide covers business accounts and why applications get flagged.
Quick answers
Do I have to file Form 8822 if I put the new address on my return?
No. The IRS says a new address on your return updates its records when the return is processed. Form 8822 is for moves after you file.
Will USPS forward my IRS refund check?
Don’t count on it. The IRS says not all post offices forward government checks. Most refunds now go by direct deposit anyway.
Can I get a refund without a regular bank account?
The IRS lists payment apps, prepaid debit cards and digital wallets that have an account and routing number. It also points people to FDIC.gov/GetBanked and MyCreditUnion.gov for free or low-cost accounts.
More RV guides
RVers start here RV mail forwarding services compared SD vs Texas vs Florida domicile
Sources checked 22 Oct 2026
- IRS Tax Topic 157: Change your address, how to notify the IRS (page updated 06 Oct 2026)
- IRS: About Form 8822, Change of Address and the Form 8822 PDF (Rev. February 2021)
- IRS: Instructions for Form 1040 and 1040-SR (P.O. box and address change)
- IRS news release: IRS to phase out paper tax refund checks (23 Sep 2025)
- IRS: About refunds
- IRS: Understanding your CP53E notice
- IRS news release: Tax filing season progressing smoothly (CP53E 30-day window and paper check timing)
- 31 CFR 1020.220: Customer identification program requirements for banks
- FinCEN: Interagency interpretive guidance on CIP requirements
Reviewed 2026-10-22.