A financial situation has arisen where you need copies of your federal income tax return and it is extremely important that you get the information as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, you have no idea where you or your spouse placed the “important papers” from home. You called your tax accountant and it turns out he’s on vacation.

What is your job?

There are a couple of options that are available to you. There are tax account transcripts and tax return transcripts.

The tax account transcript is the better of the two because it will include any adjustments made after filing. The type of information included is your adjusted gross income, taxable income, your filing status, and whether you filed a long or short 1040 form.

The tax return transcript will show line items from any of the three types of forms for filing a federal return. They are the 1040 EZ, 1040A, and Form 1040. Generally, the tax return transcript would suffice if you need proof to apply for a bank loan.

You can request any type of transcript by mail or phone. The phone number is 1-800-829-1040. If you want to request a transcript by mail, you will need the IRS address for your specific area. If you need a photocopy of a previously processed tax return application, Form 4506, which is a Tax Copy Request Form.

As with most things, there is a fee of around $40 that you will need to pay for each tax period that you apply.

Of course, to avoid having to go through all of this, keep your income tax documents in a safe place where you can retrieve them when you need them.