What is IRS Form 4506-C? It is an authorization form that lenders use to request IRS tax transcripts through the IVES program when they need to verify borrower income as part of mortgage and underwriting review.
Form 4506-C gives an approved third party permission to obtain transcript data from the IRS on behalf of a borrower. In lending, that authorization helps confirm that the income used to qualify for a loan aligns with what was reported to the IRS.
Mortgage lenders typically collect the signed form during origination, underwriting, quality control, or post-closing review. Once the borrower authorizes the request, the lender or its IVES provider can submit it and use the returned transcript information to document income, evaluate consistency, and reduce fraud risk.
The IRS returns transcript data rather than a full photocopy of the original filed tax return. That difference matters for mortgage underwriting because transcripts are designed to verify key filed information quickly, while full tax return copies are a separate request type with a different use case.
Depending on the lending scenario, transcript requests may involve return transcripts, account transcripts, record of account transcripts, or wage and income transcripts that reflect items such as W-2s and 1099s reported to the IRS. For step-by-step process details, see How.aspx, and for troubleshooting rejected requests, see the 4506-C-Common-Rejection-Reasons.aspx page.