What Is an IRS Tax Transcript? An IRS tax transcript serves as a record of…
A new transcript format is now in place to better protect your information from identity theft. This new transcript partially masks the personally identifiable information of everyone listed on the tax return. All financial entries will remain fully visible to assist with tax preparation, tax representation, and income verification.
The IRS is taking this action to better protect taxpayer data. Because of data thefts outside the tax system, cybercriminals often attempt to impersonate taxpayers and tax professionals. Thieves attempt to gain access to transcript data, which can help them file fraudulent tax returns or steal additional data of other individuals listed on the transcript.
Here’s what is visible on the new tax transcript:
Starting January 7, 2019, tax professionals with proper authorization may request unmasked Wage and Income Transcripts for tax preparation and e-filing purposes. See below for Employer Information for Tax Return Preparation and Electronic Filing.
Starting February 4, 2019, as an additional protection for taxpayer data, the IRS will stop faxing tax transcripts to both individual and business taxpayers, tax professionals and other third parties. Individual taxpayers may use Get Transcript Online to view a masked transcript immediately or order one by mail for delivery to their address of record. Taxpayers may request unmasked transcript for tax preparation. Unmasked transcripts will be mailed to the taxpayer’s address of record. Business transcripts are not masked and can be obtained by tax practitioners through the Transcript Delivery System.
Because the full Social Security number no longer is visible, the IRS has created an entry for a Customer File Number. This is an optional 10-digit number that can be created usually by third-parties that allow them to match a transcript to a taxpayer. The Customer File Number field will appear on the transcript when that number is entered on Line 5b of Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return and Form 4506T-EZ.
Here’s how it would work for a taxpayer seeking to verify income for a lender: The lender will assign a 10-digit number, for example, a loan number, to the Form 4506-T. The Form 4506-T may be signed and submitted by the taxpayer or signed by the taxpayer and submitted by the lender. The Customer File Number assigned by the requestor on the Form 4506-T will populate on the transcript. The requestor may assign any number except the taxpayer’s Social Security number. Once received by the requester, the transcript’s Customer File Number serves as the tracking number to match it to the taxpayer.
Only individual taxpayers may use Get Transcript Online or Get Transcript by Mail. Many taxpayers use this service to satisfy requests for income verification. The Customer File Number will be available for Get Transcript users starting January 14, 2019. Taxpayers can manually enter a Customer File Number assigned to them, for example, by a lender or college financial oice. That Customer File Number will display on the transcript either when it is downloaded or when it is mailed to the taxpayer.
IRS Get Transcripts no longer will have the capability to fax or email a tax transcript. As an additional protection for taxpayer data, the IRS will stop faxing tax transcripts to both individual and businesses starting February 4, 2019.
They don’t have a record of your tax return yet. The Transcript Delivery System (TDS) cannot be used to provide a tax return transcript until the return is available on Master File. The transcript will display a message of No record of return filed until showing on Master file.
Account transcripts generated before the return has updated to Master File will be incomplete and subject to change until the return is fully processed. For example, account transcripts may display a message of “Requested Data Not Found” or display zeros as placeholders for the refund amount. Your account transcripts will be incomplete and content will continue to change until IRS has fully processed the return. Taxpayers should wait until the return has processed before requesting a copy of the account transcript.
Yes, you can still access Get Transcript online or by mail. If the IRS is unable to process your request due to identity theft, you’ll receive an online message or a letter if using the mail option that provides specific instructions to request a transcript.
Resolved identity theft accounts will show Transaction Code (TC) 971 Action Code (AC) 501 or AC 506 for the tax year.
Transcript Delivery System (TDS) is programmed to recognize certain identity theft indicators on accounts. For a jointly filed return, TDS will look at indicators on both the primary and secondary accounts. TDS does not allow any transcripts to generate for the tax year requested if the following Transaction Codes (TC) and Action Codes (AC) are present for that tax year:
Note: If there is a TC 972 with the same transaction date and tax year as the TC 971, which reverses the IDT indicator, and no other indicators are present, transcripts will generate as usual.
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