I wrote a fabulously comprehensive article for MSN back in March about the various types of IRS transcripts, what they’re for, why you’d use one versus another, and how to download them. Some of my finest work, if you...
I wrote a fabulously comprehensive article for MSN back in March about the various types of IRS transcripts, what they’re for, why you’d use one versus another, and how to download them. Some of my finest work, if you ask me… but today you don’t care about that. You just need to hurry up and file your tax return by Monday, October 16th, and you can’t find any of the paperwork you carefully saved to your Mac desktop, only to have it be deleted during an update. (Yes, this is a thing. I’ve had it happen to two clients already.)
Whatever the reason for not being able to find your tax documents, you still have to get that return filed by Monday. Lucky for you, most of these documents are listed on what is called a “wage and income transcript”. The beauty of a wage and income transcript is that every one of those documents sent to you – they’re called “information returns” – is also sent to the IRS, with your social security number as a unique identifier. If you download this list of documents from the IRS, you get a summary of everything filed on your behalf.
Can’t find some of your W-2s from working several jobs?Not sure whether your freelance gig issued a 1099-NEC? Or maybe you lost track of countless different contract work payments?You’re pretty sure you have an old dividend- or interest-bearing account given to you by your grandparents but can’t ever find the form they mailed?Do you pay student loan interest, tuition, or mortgage interest and you can’t find the forms because you moved during the year?No matter how many times you try to download your retirement distribution tax form, something goes wrong with the site?
Though it takes the IRS a few months to post all these to your transcript (or longer, if the issuing company filed an extension), by this point in the season, everything should be there, and you’ll be able to prepare your tax return after all — even if you lost the originals that came in the mail or can’t figure out where you saved the PDFs.
And the best news where downloading a transcript is concerned? All you need is a photo ID, a mobile phone with a camera, an email address, and an Internet connection.
Keep in mind that the IRS will not email you a transcript; you must go online and create or log in to your account and download it. There are email scams out there that entice folks to click on a link or attachment with the promise of an IRS Online transcript – don’t fall prey.
“How Can I Download My IRS Transcript?”
1. From the IRS website, you’ll need to create an ID.me account. (This is the most involved of the steps, but thankfully you only have to do it once; moving forward, you’ll simply sign into the same account each time.) The ID.me website uses facial recognition to confirm your identity, so you’ll need your phone to take a selfie.
If you need help creating your ID.me account, the ID.me Help Center spells out the process very clearly. You can also watch this video or review these written instructions if you want to review the process first.
2. Once your account is created, log in, go to the IRS’s Get Transcript page and click the “Get Transcript Online” button.
3. Select the reason you need a transcript (it’s fine to just select “Other”).
4. Leave the Customer File Number blank and click “Go.” The screen will display all four (or five, if you have non-filing years) transcript options and the available years.
5. Under Wage & Income Transcript, select the tax-filing year.
6. After you select your transcript, like magic, a PDF will pop up in a new tab of your browser with all the information you need. (Or it will say “No record of return filed,” if nothing has posted yet.)
7. Print the file to PDF and save it somewhere safe, along with the rest of your tax season documents.
As explained above, your wage and income transcript will list all forms W-2, 1099, 1098, and 5498 that have been processed by the IRS so far for the tax year in question.
For most taxpayers, that’s all you need. But some people also can’t remember how much they paid in estimated taxes, or if they took last year’s refund and credited it forward, or they need to review last year’s return to jog their memory about this-or-that. If you’re one of those folks — no worries, I got you covered: but you need to read the longer version of this post that I shared back in March.
No need to panic — you got this. Now go file that tax return on time… for 2023, the extension deadline is Monday, October 16th, by midnight in your time zone. Yes, submitting your taxes is nerve-wracking, but it’s way better than the alternative, and with a handy list from the IRS of all your documents in one place, you’re one step ahead of most of the other taxpayers who haven’t filed yet!
If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.