IRS MFT Codes: The Tax Form Behind Each Code

What an MFT code does

Document 6209 says MFT codes "are required in each transaction to identify the specific module to which a transaction is to be posted." Each code points to one or more tax forms, such as MFT 30 for the Form 1040 family on individual accounts.

Document 6209 groups the codes by master file, and the table keeps that grouping.

The codes

Each row lists a code, its master file and the forms Document 6209 names for it. The table leaves out MFT 00 (the entity section), notes, rows that print no MFT code, and one MFT 86 row whose columns do not line up.

Related pages

Our account transcript walk-through explains each part of an account transcript, and the transcript decoder looks up transaction codes.

What people mistake MFT codes for

Some people read an MFT code as a transaction code. A transaction code such as TC 150 names what happened on the account. The MFT code names the kind of tax and form. With the tax period, it points to the module, the IRS account for one return, where the IRS posts the transaction.

Others read an MFT number without its master file. The same number can mean different forms: MFT 31 covers the Form 1040 family on the IMF but Form 1120S on the NMF.