Beginning in September 2018, the IRS, in an effort to protect individual taxpayers from identity fraud, began redacting (or masking) portions of the transcript being provided to taxpayers.
The new transcript format will have:
- Last four of any social security numbers listed
- Last four of any EIN listed
- Last four of any account or telephone numbers listed
- First four characters of the last name
- First four characters of the business name
- First six characters of the address (includes spaces)
- All money amounts
Due to the Social Security Number no longer being visible, the IRS has created an entry for a Customer File Number. This is an optional entry that can be used by third parties to match a transcript to a taxpayer. The Customer File Number will be located on line 5b of the Transcript Request Form. The Customer File Number feature was made available in mid- January of 2019.
To use the Customer File Number, the third party (usually a bank or other institution) will assign you a 10 digit number. When the transcript request is sent to the IRS, include the 10 digit number on line 5b. When the requester receives the transcript, they can use the 10 digit code to match the transcript to the individual.
Students verifying their income through FAFSA will not be affected.
For more information, please visit the IRS website.