Seven weeks ago I told you about my experience in ordering the transcript of our income tax return.  With that post I included a scanned image of said transcript to show others what I'd received from the IRS.  I complained that this is not what I was promised in conversation with the IRS “This transcript contains all of the lines of the return which you used,” and felt as if I had no option but to order a copy of my income tax return, which costs $57.00.

I knew it was going to take several weeks to get the copy, so I've been waiting patiently.  Finally I decided to call and find out just how many weeks, but I also decided to ask what happened with that transcript which was supposed to contain every line from my tax return.

While on hold listening to the announcements, I learned that it could take as long as 60 days to receive the copy of my income tax return.   When a real person finally took my call I felt annoyed, but I have learned it is best to temper that frustration with an extra dose of politeness when talking to customer service representatives.

I explained what I'd been told, and what had arrived.  The representative said it sounded as if I had only received the Account Transcript, instead of the Return Transcript.

I didn't realize there was a difference.

When I explained that I erroneously assumed the one page of data was all that I was going to get and ordered the actual copy of my return, she asked if I had originally filed electronically. I replied affirmatively and she said the IRS could not recreate a return that was submitted electronically.  I countered that my check had been cashed weeks ago, and asked if I could expect my money back.

Then she said maybe I would get a copy, but she just wasn't sure.  When sixty days have passed I'll call again and see if there is any

If you've been following this saga you'll know that I originally wrote a post entitled How To Get a Copy of Your Federal Tax Return which explained and linked to the forms at the Internal Revenue Service.  I wrote that you can request a transcript of your return, or you can order an actual hard copy of your return.  Having spoke with the IRS again, I realize there is a bit more you need to know when making the request for the transcript.  I've inserted a screenshot of Form 4506-T, section 6.  The first thing you need to do is fill in the tax form number, I've inserted 1040.

I've inserted a check in boxes A (Return Transcript), B (Account Transcript) and C (Record of Account).  At minimum you want to check box A.

You also need to insert the year you are requesting at line 9.

I'll let you know if I ever receive that hard copy of my return.