IRS Transcript Codes

Code 570 on IRS Transcript: What the Hold Means and How to Clear It (2026)

By Angeline Balsitis, EA · Reviewed by Melissa Ly, Chief Tax Officer · Published November 27, 2025 · Updated July 9, 2026 · Editorial Standards

You probably weren't browsing your transcript for fun. Maybe your refund is late, or your loan officer asked for IRS records for a refinance — and there it is: 570 Additional account action pending, $0.00, next to a date that already passed. Nothing on the page explains what it's waiting for. This guide does: what posted the hold, what releases it, and when the line actually needs something from you.

The image below shows exactly what a code 570 line looks like on a real account transcript and where to find the codes around it that explain the hold.

What code 570 on an IRS transcript means

Code 570 on an IRS transcript is a hold that stops your refund and pauses account activity for that tax year until the IRS releases it with a code 571 or 572. In IRS terms, it's a freeze on that year's account "module" — the return posted (code 150), but something stopped the money from moving.

Three details on the 570 line matter:

• The amount. Most 570s show $0.00 — which means no tax has been added to your account. The hold is procedural. A dollar amount instead means a pending adjustment is being processed.
• The date. That's a processing date — roughly when the hold posted in the IRS's weekly cycle. It is not your deadline and not a release date.
• What's around it. The codes above and below the 570 usually explain it. A code 971 right after means a letter was generated. A code 810 refund freeze is a different, harder freeze with its own release path.

Code 570 appears on your account transcript, not your return transcript. If transcript layouts are new to you, our guide on how to read IRS account transcript covers the format; this page covers only the 570 itself. And if your first fear was an exam, see is code 570 an audit — the short answer is no.

Why the IRS placed a code 570 hold on your account

Most code 570 holds come from automated matching — something on your return didn't line up with what employers, banks, or the IRS's own systems reported. The two most common triggers are withholding that doesn't match employer filings and reviews of refundable credits. The usual suspects:

• Withholding mismatch. The withholding you claimed (code 806) doesn't match the W-2s and 1099s on file — often because an employer filed late or with an error, not because you did anything wrong.
• Refundable-credit review. Returns claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit get extra screening, including the early-season PATH Act hold on those refunds.
• Identity verification. The return tripped an identity filter and the IRS wants you to confirm it's really yours before releasing money.
• Duplicate or amended filings. A second return or an amendment posted to the same year, and the account is frozen while the IRS reconciles them.
• Injured spouse or offset review. A Form 8379 claim or a question about whether your refund should be applied elsewhere pauses everything while it's worked.

A 2026 reality check: the IRS workforce shrank roughly 27% in 2025, so anything that needs a human — wage-match corrections, document reviews — moves slower than the automated systems that placed the hold. The freeze posts instantly; the release often waits in a queue.

What happens if you ignore a code 570

A code 570 never expires on its own — it either releases, or it hardens into an adjustment, an exam referral, or a deeper freeze. The sequence runs in stages:

1. The hold posts (570). Your refund is frozen. Nothing has been mailed yet, and many holds at this stage resolve without you.
2. A notice generates (971). If the review needs your input, a 971 posts and a letter is queued to your address on file.
3. The letter arrives. A CP05, 4464C, 5071C, CP05A, or Letter 12C — some ask for nothing, others ask for documents or identity verification by a printed date.
4. No response: the IRS decides without you. That can mean an adjustment — a code 290 additional tax assessed that shrinks or erases your refund — a referral to examination (code 420), or an 810 freeze layered on top.
5. Resolution. On the good path, a 571 releases the hold and an 846 posts with your new refund date.

If a letter asks for something and you don't answer, the IRS resolves the issue on its own terms — and undoing an adjustment after the fact takes far longer than answering the letter would have.

Code 570 sitting on your transcript right now?

Send us the transcript. An experienced tax professional will read every code on it, tell you exactly why the hold posted, and map the fastest path to release — free, confidential, no pressure. Delay only keeps your refund frozen longer.

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Your options while the hold is in place

What you should do about a code 570 depends on one thing: whether a code 971 and a letter have followed it.

• 570 alone, no 971, posted recently: wait and watch. Transcripts update weekly, and many systemic holds release within a few cycles without any contact from you.
• 570 followed by 971: a letter is coming — the pairing changes your job from waiting to responding. Our guide to 570 and 971 codes on transcript covers that combination in detail.
• Letter asks you to verify identity: do it the day the letter arrives. Nothing on the account moves until you do.
• Roughly 60 days with no letter and no movement: call the IRS. At that point a phone contact can surface a stalled wage-match or a letter that never mailed.
• The frozen refund is causing genuine hardship: the Taxpayer Advocate Service can intervene — that's what Form 911 exists for.

Code 570 and your refinance: what your lender sees

A code 570 can stall a mortgage refinance, because lenders verify your returns straight from the IRS — and an unresolved hold shows up in that pull. Underwriters typically request transcripts with Form 4506-C, and a return year that hasn't finished processing can become a loan condition.

Here's a clearly hypothetical example with the math. Say your 2025 return shows $41,800 of total tax — that's the figure next to code 150 — and code 806 shows $47,350 of withholding. The account math is $47,350 − $41,800 = $5,550 expected refund. Then a 570 posts at $0.00. Two things happen at once: your $5,550 is frozen, and when your lender pulls transcripts mid-underwriting, the 2025 year shows an open, unresolved review instead of a clean, completed record.

That does not mean you owe $41,800 — the $41,800 was paid through withholding, which is exactly why a refund exists. But an underwriter can't guess that from a hold code, so the file stalls while everyone waits for the IRS. A code 570 with $0.00 means the IRS is not claiming you owe anything — and your underwriter needs to hear that with documentation, not assurances.

The practical fix: give your loan officer your full signed return, your e-file acceptance confirmation, your W-2s, and any IRS letter you've received. Then watch the transcript weekly, and the day a 571 posts, send the updated transcript. If a rate lock is expiring and the hold is the only thing in the way, that's a situation where professional help pushing the release matters — more on that below.

How to respond to code 570, step by step

1. Pull your account transcript. Read every line around the 570 — the codes above and below it tell you what triggered the hold.
2. Check for a code 971. If one posted after the 570, a letter is coming — watch your mail closely for the next two weeks.
3. Answer any letter by its printed date. Send exactly the documents it asks for — no more, no less — and keep copies of everything.
4. Track weekly transcript updates. You're watching for code 571 (hold released) followed by code 846 with a new refund date.
5. Escalate if nothing moves. Call the IRS after about 60 days with no letter or movement, and contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service (Form 911) if the delay is causing real financial hardship.

When you can handle a code 570 yourself — and when help changes the outcome

Most people can clear a code 570 on their own, because the hold usually needs patience or one well-aimed response — not representation. Handle it yourself when the 570 is recent with no 971 behind it, when the letter is a no-action CP05 or 4464C, or when all the IRS wants is identity verification you can complete online.

Experienced help changes the outcome in a narrower set of situations: the hold sits on top of unfiled years or multiple frozen tax years; the letter proposes a change to your return you disagree with; an 810 freeze or a code 420 exam referral has posted alongside the 570; or — like the refinance scenario above — a real-world deadline means every week of delay costs money, and you need someone who knows which IRS unit actually owns the hold. If a frozen refund is creating hardship, the Taxpayer Advocate Service is a free, independent escalation path worth knowing about either way.

Terms on your transcript, decoded

• Additional Account Action Pending: the official label for code 570 — IRS shorthand for "something is unresolved, so nothing pays out."
• "As of" date: a bookkeeping date the IRS uses to compute interest and penalties to a point in time — see our guide to the as of date irs transcript meaning; it is not your refund date.
• Cycle code: the eight-digit number showing which weekly processing batch your account updates in.
• TC 571 / 572: the release codes — 571 resolves the 570, 572 reverses it; either one unfreezes the account.
• Master File: the IRS's central account database where all of these transaction codes post.

Code 570 questions, answered

Your next 24 hours

1. Pull a fresh account transcript from IRS.gov's Get Transcript tool and note three things: the date on the 570 line, its dollar amount, and whether a code 971 sits below it.
2. Gather your paper trail — a copy of the return for that year, your W-2s and 1099s, your e-file acceptance confirmation, and any IRS letter that has arrived.
3. Get the transcript read professionally, free. Especially if a letter is asking for documents, a 971 has posted, or a refinance is waiting on this account — call (888) 825-7779 or use the 2-minute form before the hold decides your timeline for you.

This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice for your specific situation. Eligibility for IRS programs depends on individual facts and circumstances; no outcome is guaranteed.

Related: staring at a different line? Use the IRS transcript codes decoder for 150, 810, 846, 971 and more — or browse all guides.