Federal Income Tax Transcript: Five Types and How to Request One

A federal income tax transcript is a free IRS-generated summary of the information from your tax return or your tax account, and the fastest way to get one is to sign in to your IRS Individual Online Account and download it. If you can’t use the online account, you can order one by phone at 800-908-9946, through the Get Transcript by Mail tool, or by submitting Form 4506-T. Paper delivery takes 5 to 10 calendar days.¹

The Five Transcript Types

Picking the right transcript upfront matters, because each one covers different information and a different span of years.

Tax Return Transcript. Shows most line items from your original Form 1040 as filed, plus the forms and schedules you attached. It does not reflect changes made after filing. Available for the current year and three prior years.
Tax Account Transcript. Shows basic data such as filing status, taxable income, and payment types, along with any adjustments made after your original return was processed. Available for the current year and up to nine prior years through your online account.
Record of Account Transcript. Combines the Tax Return Transcript and Tax Account Transcript into one document. Available for the current year and three prior years.
Wage and Income Transcript. Shows data from information returns the IRS received on your behalf: W-2s, 1099s, 1098s, and 5498s. Available for the current year and nine prior years, with a cap of roughly 85 income documents per year. Current-year data populates by early February.
Verification of Non-filing Letter. Confirms the IRS has no record of a processed return for a given year. For the current tax year it becomes available after June 15; for prior years it covers the last three.

The Wage and Income Transcript is the one to pull if you need to file a return but lost your W-2 or 1099 forms. The IRS offers unmasked versions of that transcript specifically for tax preparation.²³

How to Request a Transcript

Through Your IRS Online Account

Signing in to the IRS Individual Online Account gives you immediate access to all five transcript types to view, download, or print.²⁴⁵

The identity check is where a lot of people get stuck. If the selfie match fails or your ID isn’t accepted, you can request a video call with an ID.me agent instead.

By Mail or Phone

If the online route isn’t an option, you can order a Tax Return Transcript or Tax Account Transcript through the Get Transcript by Mail tool on the IRS website, or by calling the automated line at 800-908-9946. Both send a paper transcript to the address the IRS has on file for you, typically within 5 to 10 calendar days.¹ Only those two transcript types are available this way. For the others, you’ll need the online account or a paper form.

Form 4506-T

Form 4506-T lets you request any of the five transcript types by mail or fax. You’ll enter your name, current address, Social Security number or ITIN, the tax form number (such as 1040), and the years you need. It must be signed under penalty of perjury and sent to the service center designated for your geographic area, using the addresses and fax numbers listed in the form’s instructions.⁶ A shorter version, Form 4506-T-EZ, is limited to Tax Return Transcripts for the current and prior three years.⁷

All transcript requests are free. If what you actually need is a full photocopy of your original return with every attachment, that’s a different product: Form 4506, $30 per return, and up to 75 calendar days to process.⁸ Most lenders and agencies accept a transcript, so the full copy is rarely necessary.

When It Becomes Available After You File

A transcript for a return you just filed won’t show up right away. The IRS has to process the return first, and how long that takes depends on how you filed and whether you owed money.

E-filed return with a refund or zero balance: allow 2 to 3 weeks after submission.
Paper return with a refund or zero balance: allow 6 to 8 weeks after mailing.
Balance due paid in full with the return: 2 to 3 weeks if e-filed. Paper returns with a balance due are processed around June.
Balance due paid in full after filing: allow 3 to 4 weeks after the IRS receives full payment.
Balance due not paid in full: returns are processed around mid-May, with transcripts available by late May.

These windows matter most in tax season, when everyone is trying to pull prior-year transcripts for loan applications at the same time.⁹

What a Transcript Shows and What It Doesn’t

A Tax Return Transcript mirrors most of the data from your Form 1040: adjusted gross income, taxable income, total tax, and payments. A Tax Account Transcript adds post-filing activity like penalty assessments, interest, or amended-return adjustments. Lenders and student loan servicers use these to confirm that the income you reported matches IRS records.²

A transcript is not a photocopy of your return. It won’t include every schedule you filed, and the formatting looks nothing like the original 1040.³ For an exact replica with all attachments, you have to request a full copy on Form 4506.⁸

Masked Information on Your Transcript

To reduce identity theft risk, the IRS partially redacts personal data on standard transcripts:

Social Security numbers: only the last four digits (XXX-XX-1234).
Employer Identification Numbers: only the last four digits.
Account and phone numbers: only the last four digits.
Names: only the first four characters of the first and last name, or three characters if the name has four letters or fewer.
Street address: only the first six characters, including spaces.

Financial figures such as income amounts and tax liabilities remain fully visible, because those are the numbers lenders and preparers actually need.³ If a third party like a bank needs to tie a transcript to a specific borrower, you can enter a 10-digit Customer File Number on the request. The bank assigns the number, and it prints on the transcript in place of the full SSN so they can match it without seeing the sensitive data.

Reading the Transaction Codes

Tax Account Transcripts and Record of Account Transcripts include three-digit transaction codes beside each line item. A few show up often enough to be worth recognizing:

Code 150, Return Filed and Tax Assessed. Your return has been processed and any tax liability recorded. This is the baseline entry for every processed return.
Code 846, Refund Issued. A refund has been approved and scheduled. The date beside the code is the target deposit or mailing date.
Code 570, Additional Liability Pending or Credit Hold. Your return is on hold for additional review, and any refund is frozen until the hold is released. It often resolves on its own within a few weeks.
Code 971, Miscellaneous Transaction. A catch-all whose meaning depends on the action code paired with it. It frequently appears alongside Code 570 and usually signals that the IRS sent a notice explaining the hold.

Negative dollar amounts on a transcript are credits in your favor (refunds, overpayments, credited interest); positive amounts are what you owe.¹⁰ If Code 570 appears and weeks pass without a corresponding Code 571 releasing the hold, calling the IRS or checking your online account for notices is a reasonable next step.

Letting a Lender Pull Your Transcript Directly

Mortgage lenders and other creditors often want income verified straight from the IRS rather than through documents you hand over. The Income Verification Express Service (IVES) handles that. You authorize the lender by completing Form 4506-C or by granting permission through your IRS online account, and the lender, which must be an approved IVES participant, submits the request electronically or by fax.¹¹

Only one tax form type can be requested per Form 4506-C, and the IRS must receive the form within 120 days of the signature date.¹²

Federal student aid works differently now. The IRS shares limited tax data directly with the Department of Education in real time during the FAFSA application, and the IRS no longer accepts Form 4506-C or Form 8821 from loan servicers or financial aid offices for FAFSA income verification. Applicants generally do not need to request a separate transcript for financial aid.¹³

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Internal Revenue Service. Get Your Tax Records and Transcripts
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Internal Revenue Service. Transcript Types for Individuals and Ways to Order Them
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Internal Revenue Service. About Tax Transcripts
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Internal Revenue Service. New Online Identity Verification Process for Accessing IRS Self-Help Tools
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Internal Revenue Service. Creating an Account for IRS.gov
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 4506-T-EZ, Short Form Request for Individual Tax Return Transcript
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return
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Internal Revenue Service. Transcript Availability
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Internal Revenue Service. Section 8A – Master File Codes
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Internal Revenue Service. Income Verification Express Service
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 4506-C, IVES Request for Transcript of Tax Return
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Internal Revenue Service. Tax Information for Federal Student Aid Applications