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.

I had a very similar experience last year when I applied for a car loan. Got the same 13873-E form and was completely confused since I had no idea what a 4506-C even was. Turns out my credit union had submitted the form to verify my income but had made an error with my address (they used my old address instead of current one). The whole thing was resolved within a week once I contacted my loan officer. They resubmitted the corrected form and everything went smoothly after that. It's definitely more common than you'd think - my loan officer said they deal with these notices regularly and it's usually just a simple paperwork error. Don't stress too much about it, especially since you have that HELOC application timeline that matches up perfectly with when this would have been submitted. Just make sure to follow up with your lender to keep things moving along!

I just wanted to add another perspective as someone who works in banking compliance. The Form 13873-E is indeed legitimate, and what you're experiencing is extremely common. We see this happen with probably 10-15% of the transcript requests we submit to the IRS. The most frequent issues we encounter are: - Taxpayers signing with a different name than what's on file with the IRS (like using a nickname instead of full legal name) - Missing spouse signature when filing jointly - Incorrect tax year selection - Address mismatches between loan application and IRS records Given that you applied for a HELOC three weeks ago, the timing is perfect for this to be related. The IRS typically takes 7-10 business days to process these requests, so receiving the 13873-E now makes complete sense. Your loan officer should be able to quickly identify what went wrong and resubmit. Most lenders keep copies of all submitted forms, so they can easily compare against the IRS rejection notice to spot the error. This shouldn't impact your closing timeline at all - we usually get the corrected transcripts back within 3-5 business days of resubmission.

Just wanted to chime in as someone who recently went through this exact situation! I received the same Form 13873-E about two months ago and was completely panicked thinking it was some kind of scam or identity theft issue. Turns out it was related to a mortgage refinance I had applied for. My mortgage broker had submitted the 4506-C form but apparently made a small error with my Social Security Number (transposed two digits). The whole thing seemed so scary and official when I first got it in the mail. What really helped me was calling the IRS directly to verify the form was legitimate - though be prepared for a long wait time! The agent confirmed it was a real notice and explained that these transcript request errors happen all the time. Once I contacted my mortgage broker with the specific error codes from the form, they were able to resubmit the corrected paperwork within 24 hours. The good news is that this didn't delay my refinance at all - we still closed on time. It's definitely nerve-wracking when you first receive it, but it's really just a routine administrative issue that gets resolved quickly once everyone knows what needs to be fixed. Based on your HELOC timeline, I'm 99% confident this is exactly what happened in your case. Your loan officer has probably seen dozens of these and will know exactly what to do!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I work in customer service at a credit union and see these situations regularly. Just want to add a few practical tips for anyone else who might encounter this: 1. Don't panic - as everyone has mentioned, this is super common and almost always related to a recent loan application 2. Check your loan paperwork - you definitely signed a 4506-C, it's just often bundled with many other forms 3. Contact your loan officer immediately with the form - they need the specific error codes to know what to fix 4. Keep the original 13873-E form - your lender will likely want a copy for their records The timing of your HELOC application (3 weeks ago) perfectly matches the typical processing timeline for these transcript requests. I see this exact scenario probably 2-3 times per week, and it's always resolved quickly once the lender resubmits the corrected form. One thing I'd add that others haven't mentioned - if you're married and filed jointly, make sure BOTH spouses' signatures are on any resubmitted paperwork. That's another common cause of these rejections that I see frequently. You should have this resolved and your HELOC back on track within a week!

I'm so glad I found this thread! I received the exact same Form 13873-E last week and was completely freaking out thinking it might be some kind of scam or identity theft situation. Reading everyone's experiences has been incredibly reassuring. Like you, I had no memory of ever submitting a Form 4506-C, but after reading all these responses I went back through my paperwork and found it buried in a stack of documents from a personal loan application I submitted about a month ago. The timing matches up perfectly with what everyone's describing. It's amazing how common this seems to be - and honestly kind of frustrating that lenders don't do a better job explaining this process upfront. I had no idea they were going to be requesting my tax transcripts from the IRS as part of the loan verification process. I'm definitely going to call my loan officer first thing Monday morning with the form in hand. Based on everything I've read here, it sounds like this should be a quick fix that won't delay my loan approval. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - you've saved me from what would have been a very stressful weekend!

I just want to echo what everyone else has said - you're definitely not alone in this confusion! I received a similar Form 13873-E about six months ago and had the exact same panic response. Like you, I had completely forgotten that I had signed a 4506-C as part of a credit card application with a higher limit. What struck me most about your situation is how the timing lines up perfectly - three weeks from HELOC application to receiving this notice is textbook timing for these transcript requests. The IRS processing times are pretty predictable, and this falls right in the normal range. One thing I learned from my experience is that it's worth asking your loan officer to walk you through exactly what went wrong on the original form. In my case, they had used an old address I had provided early in the application process, but my current IRS address was different. Understanding the specific error helped me feel more confident that it was truly just a clerical mistake and not something more concerning. The whole experience really opened my eyes to how much paperwork happens behind the scenes in these financial transactions that we're not always made aware of as consumers. But the good news is that once you know what to expect, it's much less stressful if it ever happens again!

I'm really glad I stumbled across this thread! I've been working as a tax advisor for about 8 years, and I see clients panic about Form 13873-E notices all the time. It's completely understandable - these forms look intimidating and the language is pretty technical. What you're experiencing is absolutely normal and legitimate. The Form 13873-E is the IRS's way of saying "we got your transcript request, but something wasn't filled out correctly." It's actually a good thing that the IRS has this system in place - it prevents unauthorized access to your tax information by requiring everything to be completed properly. Your HELOC timeline is a dead giveaway that this is exactly what happened. Lenders almost always request tax transcripts as part of their income verification process, and clerical errors on these forms are incredibly common. I'd estimate that about 15-20% of my clients who apply for mortgages or major loans end up getting one of these notices. The silver lining is that once your lender resubmits the corrected 4506-C, the process usually moves very quickly. In my experience, clients typically get their loan processes back on track within 3-5 business days after the correction is submitted. Don't let this stress you out over the weekend - it's really just routine paperwork cleanup that your loan officer deals with regularly!

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who works in mortgage processing. I see Form 13873-E notices daily, and your situation is textbook - HELOC application 3 weeks ago, now getting this notice. It's almost certainly just a minor error on the 4506-C form your lender submitted. The most common mistakes I see are: - Wrong date format (MM/DD/YYYY vs DD/MM/YYYY) - Missing middle initial when it's on your tax return - Checking the wrong boxes for tax year or form type - Signature issues (especially with joint filers) Your loan officer will know exactly what to do with this. They'll compare the rejection notice against their original submission, fix the error, and resubmit. Usually takes 2-3 business days to get the transcripts back once corrected. Pro tip: When you call Monday, have the 13873-E form in front of you. The error codes on it will tell your loan officer exactly what went wrong, making the fix much faster. This definitely won't delay your HELOC closing - we build buffer time into our timelines specifically for these kinds of routine corrections.

I completely understand your confusion - I had the exact same reaction when I received Form 13873-E last year! It's such an official-looking document that immediately makes you think something serious is wrong. Based on everything shared in this thread, your situation is textbook normal. The timing of your HELOC application (3 weeks ago) aligns perfectly with typical IRS processing times for transcript requests. What likely happened is your lender included Form 4506-C in your loan paperwork - it's usually buried among all the other forms you sign - and they made a small clerical error when submitting it. I went through this same panic last year when my mortgage company submitted an incorrect form. In my case, they had transposed a digit in my SSN. Once I contacted my loan officer with the 13873-E notice, they identified the error within minutes and resubmitted the corrected form. The whole thing was resolved in under a week. The silver lining here is that this notice actually shows the system is working properly - the IRS is protecting your tax information by requiring everything to be accurate before releasing transcripts to third parties. Call your loan officer Monday morning with the form in hand. They've definitely seen this before and will know exactly what to fix. This shouldn't impact your HELOC closing timeline at all!