IRS Form 4506-C looks simple. It is only a two-page form, and most mortgage transactions require only a handful of fields to be completed.
But simple does not mean forgiving.
A missing checkbox, incorrect address, wrong tax year, mismatched name, invalid signature, illegible entry, or request for a transcript that is not available can cause the IRS to reject the request instead of delivering the tax transcript the lender needs.
For mortgage professionals, that seemingly minor mistake can become a major problem.
A rejected Form 4506-C has to be researched, corrected, potentially re-signed by the borrower and resubmitted. If a closing is approaching, those lost days can matter. A borrower may be approaching the expiration of a mortgage-rate lock, the lender may face extension costs, underwriting may be unable to issue final approval, and a closing can potentially be delayed.
The best way to deal with 4506-C rejects is therefore to prevent them before the request ever reaches the IRS.
The IRS itself warns directly on Form 4506-C that a request may be rejected if the form is incomplete or illegible. Its internal IVES procedures identify numerous additional conditions that can result in rejection.
The Address Is More Important Than Many People Realize
Address problems are among the most frustrating 4506-C issues because the address a borrower thinks is correct may not be the address the IRS expects.
Line 3 requests the taxpayer's current address, including an apartment, room or suite number when applicable. Line 4 asks for the address shown on the taxpayer's last filed return if it is different from the current address.
The IRS validates addresses against information maintained on its systems. Its current processing procedures state that either the current address on Line 3 or the prior address on Line 4 must match an address the IRS can validate. An incomplete, illegible or nonmatching address can cause the request to be rejected.
That means details matter.
A borrower might write:
125 Main Street
when the IRS record contains:
125 Main Street Apt. 4B
Or the borrower may use the correct street but enter the wrong ZIP code. A condominium unit, suite number or apartment number may have been omitted. The taxpayer may have moved three months ago but never updated the IRS.
These differences can create problems.
The IRS does maintain internal exceptions for certain acceptable address variations, so every abbreviation or formatting difference will not automatically result in rejection. But mortgage processors should never assume an address is "close enough."
The safest approach is to ask:
What address appeared on the tax return for the year being verified?
If the taxpayer has moved, complete the current address accurately and make sure the previous address information is properly provided when required.
The Name and Social Security Number Must Belong Together
Another significant source of rejects involves the taxpayer's name and taxpayer identification number.
For individuals, that generally means the Social Security number or ITIN. For businesses, it generally means the EIN.
The IRS does not merely look to see whether nine digits were entered. Its processing procedures validate the taxpayer information against IRS records. When IRS research confirms that the name and TIN do not match and the correct information cannot be resolved under its procedures, the request is rejected.
Common problems include:
- A mistyped Social Security number.
- A married name that differs from the name associated with the IRS record.
- A former name not being provided when needed.
- A business name that does not correspond with the EIN.
- Numbers accidentally transposed.
- Information copied incorrectly from another document.
Do not assume that because the borrower has used a particular version of their name throughout the loan file it will automatically match IRS records.
Review Lines 1a, 1b and, when appropriate, 1c carefully.
Missing Checkboxes Can Stop the Entire Request
One of the easiest mistakes to prevent is also one of the easiest to make.
Form 4506-C requires the requested transcript product to be identified.
Line 6 allows a request for a:
Return Transcript, Account Transcript, or Record of Account.
Line 7 is used for a Wage and Income Transcript.
If the appropriate product box is not checked, IRS procedures list the request as rejectable.
There is another critical checkbox near the signature.
The taxpayer must check the signature attestation box acknowledging that they have read the attestation and have authority to sign and request the information.
The form instructions are unambiguous: the form will not be processed if that box is unchecked.
It is remarkable how much time can be lost over a box that takes less than a second to check.
Missing, Illegible or Altered Information
IRS employees and automated systems must be able to read and validate the request.
A blurry fax, poor scan, handwritten entry that cannot be interpreted, missing digit, partially completed address or text obscured by another field can turn an otherwise valid authorization into a rejection.
The IRS reject-code procedures specifically identify taxpayer names, TINs, addresses, transcript selections, years and signatures that are altered, illegible, missing, incomplete or invalid.
The lesson for lenders is simple:
Do not submit a form simply because every field appears to contain something. Make sure every required field can actually be read.
A clean original PDF is preferable to a document that has been printed, scanned, photographed, compressed, faxed and rescanned several times.
Invalid Signatures Are a Major Source of Rejects
The signature section deserves its own review.
The IRS requires signatures for taxpayers listed on the request. Under the current Form 4506-C, if both taxpayers are listed on Lines 1a and 2a, both are required to sign.
The IRS reject criteria include signatures that are:
- Missing.
- Illegible.
- Incomplete.
- Altered.
- Inconsistent with the taxpayer listed on the form.
The printed or typed name must also be provided as required.
For business requests, the person signing must have appropriate authority and the title must be entered when required.
Electronic signatures have additional requirements. The appropriate electronic-signature box must be marked, and only IVES participants authorized for electronic signatures may submit electronically signed 4506-C requests through the applicable process.
Another easy-to-miss issue is the date.
The IRS must receive a paper Form 4506-C within 120 days of the taxpayer's signature date. A missing, illegible, invalid or future signature date can also result in rejection.
Requesting the Wrong Transcript Product
A perfectly completed authorization can still fail if the lender asks the IRS for something it cannot provide.
This is commonly referred to in the industry as an invalid product request.
Line 6 permits only one tax form number per request. Entering multiple return types—such as 1040 and 1120 on the same Line 6 request—is a rejectable condition.
The tax year must also be available for the requested product.
For example, IRS IVES availability differs by transcript type. As of 2026, individual Return Transcripts and Records of Account generally cover the current year and three prior years, while Account Transcripts have a longer availability period. Wage and Income Transcript availability follows a different schedule.
A processor therefore needs to ask three separate questions:
What tax form do I need? What transcript product do I need? Is that product available for the year I am requesting?
Selecting the wrong combination can result in a reject even though the taxpayer information itself is completely accurate.
Identity Theft Can Make an Otherwise Perfect Form Unprocessable
Some rejects cannot be prevented by filling out the form better.
A particularly important example involves taxpayers who have experienced identity theft.
The IRS places identity-theft indicators and restrictions on certain taxpayer accounts. IRS IVES procedures specifically state that identity-theft research takes priority over other rejection reasons.
For affected tax years, the IRS may be prohibited from releasing any IVES transcript product. In other circumstances, restrictions may apply specifically to Wage and Income information. The IRS then issues additional-action correspondence to the taxpayer and notifies the IVES participant that the request cannot be fulfilled.
This is sometimes described operationally as an unprocessable request.
The important distinction is that there may be absolutely nothing wrong with the 4506-C.
The name can be right.
The address can be right.
The Social Security number can be right.
The signature can be perfect.
The requested transcript can be available.
But the taxpayer's IRS account may contain an identity-theft condition that prevents the IRS from releasing the transcript through IVES until the taxpayer resolves the issue.
That is very different from correcting a missing checkbox and resubmitting the form.
Taxpayer Profiles Can Be Complicated
Not every taxpayer fits neatly into a standard mortgage-processing template.
A borrower may have recently married and changed names.
Another may have moved multiple times.
A self-employed borrower may own several corporations and partnerships with different EINs.
A borrower might file jointly one year and separately the next.
A company may have changed addresses or entity names.
An applicant may need 1040 transcripts, Wage and Income information, an 1120-S transcript and a 1065 transcript for different portions of the underwriting analysis.
There can also be trusts, estates, deceased taxpayers, authorized representatives and complicated business signing-authority questions.
What appears to be "just another 4506-C" can therefore require considerable knowledge of IRS transcript procedures.
Reviewing the Form Before Submission Saves Time
This is where experienced transcript-processing companies can add value.
Companies such as IRSTaxRecords.com can review Form 4506-C requests for common errors before they are submitted to the IRS.
That review can look for issues such as missing fields, incomplete addresses, improper transcript selections, missing checkboxes, questionable tax periods, signature problems and other obvious conditions that could cause an avoidable rejection.
No company can eliminate every IRS reject. An IRS account restriction, unavailable transcript, identity-theft indicator or underlying taxpayer-record issue may not be visible until the IRS processes the request.
But preventable mistakes should be caught before submission whenever possible.
That matters because the least expensive rejection is the one that never happens.
Consider a mortgage scheduled to close Friday.
The lender submits a 4506-C Monday but the taxpayer forgot to check the attestation box. The IRS rejects it. The processor receives the reject, contacts the borrower, generates another form, obtains another signature and resubmits the request.
A mistake that took one second to make may now have consumed several days.
If the borrower's rate lock expires during that delay, the consequences can be substantially greater than the cost of processing a transcript. Depending on the transaction, the lender or borrower may face a rate-lock extension, a changed interest rate, additional expense or even a delayed closing.
The objective should therefore not simply be fast transcript processing.
It should be fast, accurate processing the first time.
Before every Form 4506-C goes to the IRS, verify the taxpayer, verify the address, verify the requested product, verify the tax years, verify every required checkbox and verify the signature.
A few additional seconds of review can save days of unnecessary delay.