IRS Transcripts:
How To Get Them

IRS transcripts and other income tax account information – 

are as much important as your credit report: They are powerful tools to help lenders decide on your loan!

AND they all need to be accurate  in order to attain 
financing for your new home

 …and to attain good rates!

So do check everything IRS has on your last 2 or 3 years files. Then correct any discrepancies right way - all before you begin any other  part of your homebuying quest

I cannot over emphasize how important this is.

It is very little known that, when you apply for a home loan, one of the many documents you will be signing is the Form 4506-T (Request For Transcript Of Tax Return) - it authorizes the lender to ask the IRS to release your tax records for the last 2 or 3 years [can be 4 years].

It customarily depends on weather you are ‘employed’ or ‘self-employed’ …lenders tend to favor more those folks who ‘have a job’ and they will request only two years …where, maybe, for  than those how work for themselves will have to present documentation for the past 3 years 

…but not to worry, if you can show that you are making adequate amount of money for the type of home you want to buy, everything should be alright…

I have bought 5 homes thus far AND I have always been self-employed!

 Regardless what your employment case may be, it is of enormous importance that the copy of your income tax return that you present to lender be as exact as what the IRS transcripts will show in their files.

Where To Get Your IRS  Transcripts

So without much ado, let’s see how to get IRS transcripts:

Go to www.irs.gov

== > you will land on their home page – there you will see 4 pictures on top …below the picture of a man with glasses you will read “Tools”

== > click on the link “Get Transcripts of your Tax records”

== > When you land on that page you will see two blue box the first will give you the option of ‘Get Transcript ONLINE’ = chose this one, because it will be emailed to almost immediately …the other one will come by ‘snail mail’ ‘within 5 to 10 days…

==>  In this box you will have a nice sub-menu = look very closely which option will fit best for what you are looking for

• o   Tax Return Transcripts show most line items from your tax return (Form 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ) as it was originally filed, including any accompanying forms and schedules. This transcript does not reflect any changes you, your representative or the IRS made after you filed your return. In many cases, a Return Transcript will meet the requirements of lending institutions offering mortgages and student loans
• o   Tax Account Transcripts provide any adjustments either you or we made after you filed your return. This transcript shows basic data, including marital status, type of return filed, adjusted gross income and taxable income
• o   Record of Account == > This one gives you the information from tax account AND tax account transcript = So I recommend that you select this one
• o   Wage and Income transcript
• o   Verification of non-filing letter

  …and more info on how to get IRS transcripts. It is good to read it before you go to the next step …It is also very important that you keep precise notes of info you enter on each field because if you forget one of them you will have a hard time re-establishing it

== > OK, when you click on the ‘Get the transcripts online’ box, there will a disclosure for you to agree to, click ‘OK’

== > assuming that you are doing it for the first time, you will need to create a Login – so enter the requested info on the left side of that page = > please read ‘information you need to verify your identity = then have it ready in order to proceed …after that in consequent visits, you will enter the user id [on the right side]

Information You Need
To Verify Your Identity

  Here is the information you need to verify your identity: The personal information you enter must match the information you provided to IRS on your most recent tax return. IRS uses the following information to verify your identity:

• Name
• Social Security Number or Individual Tax ID Number (ITIN)
• Date of Birth
• Filing Status = make sure that it matches what you  enter on your tax return for that year that you need transcript, i.e. 

                     - individual, 
                     - head of household, 
                     - married filling joint, 
                     - married filling separate [and so on]

• Mailing Address
• Third Party Verification Questions - you must provide answers to questions about personal information such as prior address, mortgage information, etc., that only you should know.

Note: Make sure you are reading directly from your filling copy – unless you do not have it. If you enter any of the information wrong, i.e., you filled as ‘head of household’ but you enter ‘individual’ they ‘will flag you’ …and kick you out of the system

You must also provide IRS with a valid email address, which they will confirm and use to notify you if your registration information changes. Your confirmation email should arrive quickly so check your junk folder if you don't see it right away

== > OK, with all that info in hand, click “get started’ button

Follow each of the steps and you should be successful to get it but again I caution for you make detailed notes of the info you enter there because sooner rather than later you need that info again and if you forget the info you have already entered, you will be kicked out of the system.

I shared this info for some of clients that did not know how to get IRS transcripts and they have it found it easy to navigate and get their issues resolve,

Best of luck! 

Please check these pages for additional related information as well:

JC Fagundes, Head Broker
EQUAL SERVICE TO ALL.
Residential. Commercial. Investments.
Ph: 404 801 4141

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