Here is a new one for me and something for our newer notaries to digest. During a recent signing and directly behind the “Request for Tax Transcript” was a copy of the signature page of the client’s tax return for 2026. Let me try to make this easy to follow…
Now on this copy the signature line states “copy” but there is no original signature. The block for the spouses’ signature is blank.
The client had filed their taxes in Feb. 2026. This closing was just this past Friday, 4/17/2026.
In this state we only have the client sign the “Request for Tax Transcript” but this is basically just a wet copy.
The lack of signature on a transcript that had already been electronically filed through a CPA and accepted by the IRS and is now being questioned by an outside party asking for a signature (Red Flag)
An incomplete document first and foremost. I do not ask for signatures in this manner. (Red Flag)
My refusal to present this to the client was also based on the implication that I, a notary, requested the signature so therefore it would be ok in the eyes of the client. (Fraudulent activity would utilize this)
The signing company did come back to me and stated there were errors on the closing paperwork and referenced this tax document and the missing signature. I informed them of why it was not signed and I would not present it for signature.
I made contact with a Notary Instructor for this State who agreed completely. It is not up to the notary to determine the legitimacy of a paper by the detail contained within, but it is our responsibility to make sure that the document itself is presented legally.
I left the client a message and he returned my call. I asked if there was a piece of the puzzle that I was unaware and was he being asked to sign his Tax Return for the Title/Lender? He emphatically said no! He had no understanding as to why that paper was there.
This was not what you consider a copy of paperwork (invoices, insurance declarations, etc) that usually attach with the closing documents. It was planted in the middle of the paperwork between the mundane signing papers and clearly, they were looking for a signature.
Point of this story…know the paperwork within the closing documents. Question the basic’s and you will protect yourself and the client. Do not just robotically go through and have them sign wherever you see a signature line. I do not spend a great deal of time on closings, but I do know what should be there and question anything I have not seen before.
The signing company has reversed their stance as to having errors on the closing.
I guess I did. I see copies of tax returns that are esigned and a wet signature is then requested. If we’re not lawyers how do we make sure a document is presented “legally”. Question the basics you say. On what grounds do I question the basics? Not sure I understand what the advice is here. Sorry.
My $.02 FWIW - my take on this - they had a copy of the “signature page” of the tax return only - they want to see the whole tax return - hence a request for the transcript - I saw these all the time doing signings going back Lord knows how many years. If all they have is the signature page, they want to see more - so they can verify the income information they were previously given.
I would have had them sign…it’s part and parcel of the loan package; I’m a bit confused on your language here also - “legally present”? “fraudulent activity”? You say it yourself in bullet point 8 - . “It is not up to the notary to determine the legitimacy of a paper by the detail contained within,” - so your only concern should be proper identification and signatures on the docs - along with proper notarization.
Ok, for clarity…I had him wet sign the copy of the “Request for Transcript” which he had probably signed online months ago. The tax return had been processed through the lender or I would not have been there for the closing. That’s common sense. If it was incomplete they never said anything to the client. Stop with the assumptions that they wanted to see more of the transcript. This was the end of the loan processing! THEY could legally make the request with his on line signature. Obviously, they had. If it had not been appropriately signed, I believe his CPA that did his taxes and the IRS that approved and processed his electronically submitted forms would have said something about a signature on the returns.
And when would a notary ask someone to sign a page intermittently placed in the package when there is only one page of a 20 page document and there are 19 pages missing?
I have NEVER seen a request from a Title/Lender asking me to present a client’s annual tax form for signature. That in itself would require every page of the 1040. Yes, every package has the request for transcript…that’s the extent we should play. And the client had no idea why that page of the tax return was in their closing packet. Would you seriously just go with whatever Title/Lender want? Whatever they “might have wanted to see” should have been worked out before closing. Guys, you are scaring me. We are obligated to the signing client, not the Signing Company! The first and biggest Red Flag was an incomplete document. That’s notary 101 in every state! Really, I’m done with this thread…I’m understanding more and more about mortgage fraud. (PS, I worked as an auditor in my prior life. No guessing, no supposedly, it’s all apples for apples. I’ll stick with the Commissioned Instructor for the State)
They probably signed an authorization to share their tax returns. So just wet signing the signature page is done quite a lot. It’s not unusual at all. You may have never seen it - that doesn’t make it unusual. I’ve seen in more times than I can count. Makes me liable for nothing when the borrower has signed authorization to share their tax return info with affiliated companies.
The only time one wasn’t signed was a HELOC I did where the borrower said there’s no way they are sharing my tax info with anyone. Luckily for him it was not a condition of the loan. For many lenders it is a condition of the loan. Especially if they do not service the loan they sold and they plan on immediately selling that loan to someone else for servicing.
Was any notarial act being performed in connection with the tax return? If not, you’re just relaying a request from the title company and it’s entirely up to the signer to decide if they want to comply.
As for not notarizing incomplete documents, not all states have a law forbidding this. My state, VT, has no such law.
I had to go back out and get wet signatures on tax returns before (It was my first time seeing them in a package and I did not know they needed to be signed) I was advised by that signing service that anytime I see tax returns and surveys to get them signed in packages. It is not my business to question their request; it’s my business to fulfil their requests as requested. (Not a notarial act that they were wanting me to do something illegally) A physical signature is harder to fake than a typed name or pasted e-signature. If something feels off, a wet signature adds an extra layer of trust.
I think you may be way out over your skis on this one…a signature request on the “copy” tax return signature have been an items in closings since I was a loan officer and notary in the early 90’s and a notary signing agent in effect, before they had a title for it. Unless your situation was unique, I think the title company let you off the hook on this and probably had them docusign it and I am surprised your instructor even made a comment about the situation, if it was an NNA Notary instructor in fact…sometimes over the years, when I’ve called a hotline, the answering person has never been a notary for the state I was in…
I’m in California and I see that 1040 signature page often included in packages. As kirsten.tabion posted above: Always get tax returns signed and dated (with signing date).
As notaries, we should not be NOTARIZING an incomplete document. The 1040 signature page is not notarized.
I need to chime in on this one. Wet signatures are becoming less common as we’ve moved toward electronic filings. I haven’t had a tax client do a wet signature in several years now. In its place a Cx selected PIN is used in place of a signature. There’s nothing wrong with having the client wet sign a second copy as long as it isn’t mailed to IRS.
An issue may arise if only the signature page or the lower portion of the back age of the 1040 where the signature would be placed doesn’t belong to the correct tax year in question.
The second concern is the signing date. If you get the wet signature and date, after the earlier digital, there maybe some confusion if the lender pulls records from IRS for verification using a wet signed and dated tax return. Date discrepancies on a tax return is a flag for ID theft/fraud.
If the client signs a 4506 (Request a copy of a tax return) all of this confusion is eliminated.
