IRS transcripts and account analysis
Your IRS transcript is the case file. Learn to read it.
Every assessment, payment, penalty, hold and collection step posts to your account as a three-digit transaction code. Read them in order and the transcript tells you what the IRS did, when it did it, and what it is likely to do next.
| Code | Explanation | Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 150 | Return filed & tax liability assessed | 05-27-2024 | 8,412.00 |
| 806 | Credit for withheld taxes | 04-15-2024 | -5,120.00 |
| 276 | Failure to pay tax penalty | 05-27-2024 | 96.40 |
| 196 | Interest assessed | 05-27-2024 | 61.18 |
| 971 | Miscellaneous transaction (action code set) | 07-08-2024 | 0.00 |
| 670 | Subsequent payment | 08-02-2024 | -500.00 |
Transcript type
Account transcript
The ledger. Assessments, payments, penalties, interest, holds and collection activity, each posted with a transaction code and a date.
Transcript type
Wage and income transcript
What third parties reported about you: W-2s, 1099s, 1098s and Form 5498. It is the IRS's side of the matching program.
Transcript type
Tax return transcript
The return as filed and processed, line by line, including any math the IRS changed, shown as per return and per computer.
Start here
All 52 articles01
Account Transcript vs. Wage and Income Transcript: What Each One Proves
One is the IRS ledger. The other is the IRS's copy of what your employers, banks and brokers reported. You need both, and you need to know which question each one answers.
02
How to Read an IRS Account Transcript, Line by Line
The account transcript looks like a bank statement written by a computer from 1970. Once you know its three parts, it reads like a timeline of everything the IRS has done on your year.
03
Cycle Codes, Transaction Dates and the 23C Date: Reading the Timeline on Your Transcript
Two columns on your transcript hold dates. They are not the same thing, and the difference explains a lot of confusing IRS letters.
04
Diagnosing an IRS Case From Transcripts: A Step-by-Step Method
One transcript tells you about one year. A case lives across all of them. Here is the method for turning a stack of transcripts into a diagnosis.
Codes people ask about most
Titles follow IRS Document 6209, the IRS reference for Master File transaction codes. Each row links to a full explanation.
| TC | Document 6209 title | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| 150 | Return Filed & Tax Liability Assessed | Explanation |
| 290 | Additional Tax Assessment | Explanation |
| 300 | Additional Tax Assessment by Examination or Appeals | Explanation |
| 570 | Additional Liability Pending and/or Credit Hold | Explanation |
| 806 | Credit for Withheld Taxes and Excess FICA | Explanation |
| 846 | Refund of Overpayment | Explanation |
| 922 | IRP Underreporter | Explanation |
| 971 | Miscellaneous Transaction (meaning set by the action code) | Explanation |
The transcript library
Transcript Basics
- Account Transcript vs. Wage and Income Transcript: What Each One Proves
- How to Read an IRS Account Transcript, Line by Line
- Tax Return Transcript vs. Record of Account: Which One Shows the Real Numbers
- Cycle Codes, Transaction Dates and the 23C Date: Reading the Timeline on Your Transcript
- The Document Locator Number: Decoding the 14 Digits Behind Every Transaction
Assessment Codes
- TC 150: Return Filed and Tax Liability Assessed
- TC 290: Additional Tax Assessed, and Why Some Are for Zero Dollars
- TC 291 and TC 301: When the IRS Takes Tax Back Off Your Account
- TC 300: How an Audit Assessment Looks on Your Transcript
- Substitute for Return on Your Transcript: The Zero-Dollar TC 150 You Did Not File
Holds, Exams and Matching
- TC 420 and TC 421: The Exam Indicator Opens, the Exam Indicator Closes
- TC 922 and the Underreporter Program: Reading the Process Codes
- TC 570 and TC 571: The Hold That Freezes Your Refund, and the Release
- TC 810 and TC 811: The Refund Freeze and What Lifts It
- TC 977 and TC 976: Amended and Duplicate Returns on Your Transcript
Payments, Credits and Refunds
- Payment Codes on Your Transcript: TC 610, TC 670, TC 640 and Their Reversals
- TC 806: Withholding Credits and Why They Do Not Always Match Your W-2
- TC 766 and TC 768: Refundable Credits on Your Transcript
- TC 846: Refund Issued, and the Codes That Undo It
- Refund Offset Codes: TC 826, TC 706, TC 898 and Where Your Refund Went
Penalties, Interest and Agreements
Collection Codes and Diagnosis
- TC 971 Action Codes Explained: The Miscellaneous Code That Means Almost Anything
- TC 530: Currently Not Collectible, and What the Closing Code Tells You
- TC 582 and TC 583: Reading the Federal Tax Lien Indicator
- TC 520: Bankruptcy and Litigation Codes, and What They Freeze
- TC 480 to TC 788: Following an Offer in Compromise on Your Transcript
- What the Transcript Shows When No Return Was Filed: TC 140, TC 142 and TC 590 to 599
- Diagnosing an IRS Case From Transcripts: A Step-by-Step Method
Who reads these with you
Darrin T. Mish is a tax attorney admitted to The Florida Bar in 1993 (No. 986641), also admitted in Colorado and Texas, and admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court and the Supreme Court of the United States. This site explains how to read an IRS account history, because that history shapes which options are realistic. About the practice
Next step
A transcript tells you where the case stands. The next move is a judgment call.
Bring your account transcripts and your IRS letters. We will read them with you and talk through what the codes mean for your options.