How Good People Solve Bad IRS Problems - Nick Nemeth - Manual / Resource - Page 16
End Your IRS Problems
How to Get Copies of Your IRS Transcript
Write to the IRS and ask for copies of your personal
and/or business transcripts. Mail your letter to
your local IRS office or IRS Service Center addressed
Attention: Taxpayer Service. You’ll find these
addresses on the IRS website. The letter includes your
name, address, social security number or BIN, and the
tax years or periods in question.
If you’re not sure what tax years or periods are in
question (this is very common), you should ask for
more years or periods of time to cover all time frames
at issue to make sure you get all the information you
need. This will help you avoid any surprises down the
road for those years or periods you failed to ask about.
You want the IRS to disclose to you everything they
have about you.
How to Read Your IRS Transcripts
It usually takes the IRS about 30-60 days after
receiving your request to mail copies of your
transcripts to you. Once you have them in front of
you, you’ll be able to see the IRS transaction codes,
descriptions of the codes, and the dollar amounts in
question.
Unfortunately, most of your transcripts will probably
show you owing money for a particular tax year or
period. That’s fine ... don’t stress over it. The goal of
getting your IRS transcripts is to find out exactly what
the IRS is thinking about you.
If the IRS has filed a tax return for you in any year,
you’ll see the description “SFR” (Substitute for
Return). If you’ve made payments to the IRS, you
should see them listed. If the IRS has filed a Federal
Tax Lien against you ... you’ll see that as well. And,
if the IRS has selected you for an upcoming IRS audit,
you’ll see that on your transcript.
Don’t take it personally! Remember - your IRS
transcripts are just a tool to help you understand how
the IRS views you.
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