also, if you gave them the copy of the tax returns they wouldn't be able to use them, people create fakes so well that you couldn't tell unless you went through the IRS that's why they have to get them from the IRS themselves. so if you just provided tax returns and thought that would be sufficient, they are probably asking for the other stuff so that they don't have to hassle with the IRS. lenders always have these strict policies they have to abide by and there are usually several different avenues to prove certain things, they shoulda just sent off the 4506t if it was gonna be this difficult for you to produce checks tbh i don't see why the tax returns wouldn't be sufficient to prove income imho.