Risk Management Blog

In an IRS statement last updated May 27, 2015, the IRS revealed “that criminals used taxpayer-specific data acquired from non-IRS sources to gain unauthorized access to information on approximately 100,000 tax accounts through IRS’ “Get Transcript” application. This data included Social Security information, date of birth and street address.” You can read the IRS’s full statement here.

In response to this incident, the IRS has disabled its online ‘Get Transcript’ application until further notice. still acquire IRS transcripts by mail by going here and following the directions given. “You can get a transcript by mail to view your tax account transactions or line-by-line tax return information for a specific tax year. The method you used to file your return and whether you have a refund or balance due, affects your current year transcript availability. Note: If you need a photocopy of your return, you must use Form 4506. To use Get Transcript by Mail, you need your Social Security number (SSN) or your Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN), date of birth, and address from your latest tax return.”

From the IRS website definition, a tax account transcript shows any changes either you or the IRS made to your tax return after you filed it; this transcript includes your marital status, the type of return you filed, your adjusted gross income and taxable income. A tax return transcript shows most line items from the tax return you originally filed; it also includes items from any accompanying forms and schedules you filed but it does not reflect any changes made after you filed your original return.

The different types of transcripts and a brief description of each can be found here.

Do you rely on IRS tax account transcripts? How do you retrieve them? Will this shut down affect your due diligence processes? Share your thoughts below.

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