Is IRS form 13873-E legitimate? Got one in the mail and confused

8 This is a legitimate IRS form, but it's typically sent when someone (or a third party) has requested access to your tax transcripts. Form 13873-E is essentially a notification that there was a problem with a Form 4506-C that was submitted. Form 4506-C is the form used to request tax transcripts, and is often used by mortgage companies, lenders, or other financial institutions when you're applying for loans or other financial services. The most likely explanation is that a financial institution requested your transcripts but filled out the form incorrectly. Have either of you applied for a mortgage, refinance, loan, or any financial service recently? Many times these companies request your tax transcripts as part of their verification process, but they don't always make it clear to you that they're doing this.

5 I went through something similar last year and found this amazing service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me understand exactly what was happening with confusing IRS notices. I uploaded a picture of the form and it explained everything in plain English - turns out my mortgage company had requested my transcripts but filled out the form wrong. The tool also showed me exactly what to do next - in my case, I just needed to contact my lender and let them know they needed to resubmit their request. Saved me hours of stressing and calling the IRS!

19 Okay I was super skeptical about that taxr.ai thing but I decided to try it since I got a weird letter from the IRS too. I uploaded the image and holy crap it actually worked! It told me exactly what each paragraph meant and even explained that the specific codes on my form meant my lender had forgotten to check a certain box. I called my lender this morning with the exact info they needed to fix and they were impressed I knew exactly what was wrong! Definitely better than the 2 hours I spent on Google trying to figure it out myself. Just wanted to come back and say thanks for the recommendation.

6 If you need to contact the IRS directly about this (which you probably should just to verify), good luck getting through to them. I spent 3 hours on hold last week before giving up. Then I found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual IRS agent in less than 20 minutes. They have this system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you, then calls you when an actual human agent is on the line. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - seemed sketchy at first but it really worked. I was able to verify my tax situation without wasting an entire day on hold.

3 Alright I need to eat my words. After calling BS on that Claimyr thing, I actually tried it today because I've been trying to reach the IRS for THREE DAYS about an amended return issue. The service actually worked exactly as described. I went about my day, and about 37 minutes later got a call connecting me directly to an IRS agent. Saved me from listening to that awful hold music and I was able to get my tax question resolved in one call. For what it's worth, the agent confirmed my situation with form 13873-E was legit - it was from a third party request where some information was missing.

9 I work at a mortgage company and we request these transcripts all the time. Form 4506-C requests go directly to the IRS from the lender, and if something is incorrect (missing signature, wrong SSN, etc.) the IRS sends back that 13873-E form. Check all your loan paperwork - I guarantee you signed a 4506-C as part of your loan process. It's a standard form in almost every loan packet because we need to verify your income with the IRS. Just call your loan officer and let them know you got this form. They'll fix it and resubmit.

22 Does anyone know if these forms are ever used in identity theft attempts? I got something similar but I haven't applied for any loans recently, which makes me suspicious. Should I call the IRS fraud department?

I've been a tax preparer for over 15 years and can confirm that Form 13873-E is absolutely legitimate. This form is sent when the IRS receives an incomplete or incorrect Form 4506-C (Request for Copy or Transcript of Tax Form). The most common reasons for receiving this notice are: - Missing or incorrect taxpayer signature - Wrong Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number - Incomplete address information - Missing dates or tax years Since you mentioned getting a HELOC application recently, that's almost certainly the source. Lenders routinely request tax transcripts as part of income verification, and it's very common for these forms to have minor errors that trigger the 13873-E response. I'd recommend calling your loan officer first thing Monday morning. They'll likely need to resubmit a corrected 4506-C form. In my experience, this is a very routine issue that gets resolved quickly once the lender fixes the paperwork. One tip: Keep a copy of the 13873-E form for your records, as your lender may ask for it to understand exactly what information needs to be corrected.