A 4506-C is the IRS form a borrower signs to let a lender pull their tax transcripts directly from the IRS for income verification. Its official name is the IVES Request for Transcript of Tax Return, and it is how mortgage lenders confirm that the income on a loan application matches what the borrower actually reported to the IRS.
The 4506-C authorizes the IRS to release a borrower's tax transcripts to a third party through the Income Verification Express Service (IVES). The borrower signs it, the lender or a verification vendor acting on the lender's behalf submits it, and the IRS returns the requested transcripts. For lender income verification the 4506-C is the current form. It took over the third-party transcript role the older 4506-T used to serve, so if your process still references the 4506-T for that purpose, it is out of date.
Lenders use the 4506-C for one core reason: to verify income against the source of record. Pay stubs and W-2s can be altered, and self-employed income is easy to misstate. Pulling the transcript straight from the IRS confirms the numbers independently. That protects the lender against income fraud, supports investor and GSE documentation expectations, and reduces buyback risk when a loan is sold. On self-employed and complex-income files especially, the transcript is often the difference between a clean approval and a file that unravels in underwriting.
These three forms are easy to confuse:
For nearly every mortgage income-verification need, the answer is the 4506-C.
The 4506-C lets a lender request different transcript types depending on what the file needs. The two most common are the return transcript, which shows most line items from the filed return, and the wage and income transcript, which reflects the W-2, 1099, and other income reported to the IRS. A lender can request multiple years, which matters on self-employed files where underwriters average income across years.
The flow is straightforward:
The form is exacting. The IRS has revised it in recent years and rejects requests for small reasons: a name or address that does not match IRS records, a missing or mismatched signature, or the wrong transcript boxes checked. Credit Technologies handles tax transcript and SSA verification as a managed service, submitting clean requests through IVES and working the rejections so they do not stall your file.
Most 4506-C delays are avoidable. The frequent culprits: the borrower's current address does not match the address on the last filed return, the form is signed but the signature date is missing or stale, the taxpayer name is entered differently than on the return, or an out-of-date form revision is used. Each one bounces the request and costs days. A process that validates the form before submission removes most of that friction.
Income verification should confirm the numbers without becoming the reason a loan is late. Pulling tax transcripts through IVES, on a clean 4506-C, with a partner who manages the submission and the rejections, gives underwriting the independent confirmation it needs while keeping the file moving. It pairs naturally with employment and income verification on files that need a full income picture.
See how Credit Technologies streamlines tax transcript verification for your files. Schedule a demo.
A 4506-C authorizes the IRS to release a taxpayer's tax transcripts to a third party, such as a mortgage lender, through the Income Verification Express Service. Lenders use it to verify a borrower's income against what was actually filed with the IRS.
Most lenders require a signed 4506-C, and many investor and GSE guidelines expect tax-transcript verification, especially on self-employed or complex-income files. Specific requirements vary by lender and loan type.
Both relate to tax transcripts, but the 4506-C is the IVES form used to deliver transcripts to a third party like a lender. The 4506-T was phased out of that third-party process in favor of the 4506-C.
Through the IRS Income Verification Express Service, transcripts often come back within a few business days, much faster than a mailed request. A clean, error-free form is the key to avoiding delays.
The borrower completes and signs the 4506-C to authorize release of their transcripts. The lender, or a verification partner acting on the lender's behalf, submits the request to the IRS.
Common reasons are a name or address that does not match IRS records, a missing or mismatched signature, or an out-of-date form revision. Validating the form before submission prevents most rejections.