How to Obtain a Copy of Past Tax Return
You've probably been told at one time or another to keep copies of your tax returns for your personal records. Even when you follow that advice, things can happen. A lost or damaged tax return can be a real inconvenience if you need it to document your income for a lender or government agency. Fortunately, you can obtain a copy of a past tax return from the Internal Revenue Service. Returns are available for the current year and the previous six years.
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Instructions
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Go to the Internal Revenue Service website and click on "Forms and Publications." You must submit IRS Form 4506 Request for Copy of Tax Return to obtain a photocopy of a past year's return. If you don't see the form, enter "Form 4506" in the search tool at the upper right. A link to Form 4506 will come up.
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Enter the information requested on Form 4506. You must enter your name, Social Security number and address. If you are requesting a tax return that was filed as a joint return with your spouse, your spouse's name and Social Security number are also needed. If you want to have the copy of your tax return sent to a third party, the IRS will do this if you enter the third party's name and address in the spaces provided. Enter the year of the tax return you are requesting and the type of return. For example, you might enter 2008 and 1040A.
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Sign Form 4506 and mail it to your regional IRS Service Center. A list of mailing addresses is on Form 4506. Enclose a check or money order made out to the United States Treasury. At the time of publication, the fee was $57 for each copy of a past tax return you request. Allow about 60 days for the IRS to process your request and send you a copy of the tax return.
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Tips & Warnings
In many situations, lenders, government agencies and other parties will accept a transcript of your tax return information. If that is an option, you can save the fee by getting a transcript instead of a photocopy of a past year's tax return. These transcripts are available from the IRS at no charge. To order a transcript of a tax return, follow the instructions in Steps 1 to 3 with two changes. First, use Form 4506T instead of Form 4506. Second, don't send any money. The IRS also accepts online submissions of Form 4506T and take requests by phone. The toll free number to request tax return transcripts is 800-908-9946.
