What does Code 826: Overpayment Applied to Another Year mean on an IRS transcript?

Part or all of your overpayment went to pay a different tax period you owe, instead of coming back to you. Official definition per IRS Document 6209: Overpayment Transferred (generated transaction). A computer generated debit for the amount of overpayment credit transferred to another tax module.

IRS Transcript Code 826: Overpayment Applied to Another Year

826

Part or all of your overpayment went to pay a different tax period you owe, instead of coming back to you.

The official definition, IRS Document 6209

Overpayment Transferred (generated transaction). A computer generated debit for the amount of overpayment credit transferred to another tax module.

What it means for your refund

Reduced by the transferred amount. This is the IRS paying your own back balance with your current refund, a normal and automatic application.

Worth knowing: If the balance it paid surprises you, the other tax year's transcript shows what was owed there, and the collection notices for that year explain why.

Reading the transcript around it

Codes rarely act alone: holds (570, 810) pair with releases (571, 811), a 971 often flags the letter that explains a hold, and the refund itself is always the 846 line. The full code index maps the neighbors, including the cycle code and As-of date explained without the folklore. If the account shows a balance rather than a refund, the letters that follow are decoded in our IRS notice decoder.

Sources: IRS Document 6209, Section 8A; IRM 21.5.6; IRS refund myth page. Verified July 2026.

General educational information, not tax advice. A transcript entry only means something in the context of your account; a credentialed tax professional can read yours in full. ClearChoiceRadar is not affiliated with the IRS or any government agency.