is now 
The IRS says more than 70 percent of taxpayers will receive tax refunds this year due to tax credits and having too much of their income withheld. Last year’s average tax refund was $2,797 and it’s expected to be close to the same average for this year’s tax season.
Meanwhile, for the rest of taxpayers who owe taxes there are new and faster ways to pay. The IRS offers several online or direct-call opportunities to pay taxes even without filing on time.
The Direct Pay option allows individuals to pay their outstanding taxes or estimated taxes directly from a checking or savings account. A taxpayer receives an immediate confirmation of payment if making an instant payment or can schedule a payment to be made at a later time or at future intervals. The IRS system does not store the payment information after the transaction to avoid online hackers. See a previous ReSource article Another Cyberattack on Taxpayer Information for more information about tax-related identity theft occurring through IRS systems.
For the first time there’s a new cash payment option for taxpayers in partnership with two online payment processing companies including OfficialPayments.com and PayNearMe. Individuals may now use up to $1,000 cash per day to pay outstanding taxes if they do not have or do not want to use a bank account or credit card. Payments can be made at more than 7,000 participating 7-Eleven convenience stores across the country.
The IRS still promotes that the easiest way to pay individual and business taxes is through the Department of Treasury’s Electronic Federal Tax Payment System or EFTPS. A relatively new feature to this online registration payment method is the EFTPS Voice Response System. Both services are offered for free with no extra fees charged for processing and scheduling regular payments.
Through EFTPS a taxpayer can use the internet, phone or mobile device to make, schedule and review tax payments any time of day. Businesses and individuals can schedule payments up to a year in advance. Payments can be changed or cancelled up to two days before the scheduled transaction date. This method provides a way to pay all types of federal taxes from individual to business federal income taxes, employment taxes, estimated taxes and excise taxes.
Should a taxpayer prefer to use a credit or debit card to pay taxes, the IRS accepts payments from Visa, MasterCard, American Express and other card vendors. The taxpayer must submit the payment information through IRS-approved secure credit card processing companies. Each processing company charges a fee for the transaction. The system is not designed to accept high balance tax payments nor federal tax deposits. Generally, the payments are limited to 2 per year for individuals and 2 per quarter for estimated tax payments. The providers are Pay1040.com, PayUSATax.com and OfficialPayments. You can review the the IRS-approved options by clicking here.
We’ve explained a lot about federal income taxes, but don’t forget that you also have state and local tax obligations and deadlines. Each state, county and municipality has different ways of accepting tax filings and payments. Most have online payment programs in place. Check with your state and local tax collector’s office online or by phone if you have questions about how, when and where to file your tax return and make tax payments as needed.
If you continually receive tax refunds, it may be a sign that you’re having too much withheld. The money could be put to better use than loaning it to the government for free. On the other hand, if you owe taxes every year that you did not expect, you may benefit from strategic tax planning that could lessen your tax burden or provide a more consistent tax payment structure that could ease tax deadline pressures.
At McRuer CPAs it is our goal to make certain you pay only the taxes you owe. Contact us to set up a tax review session with one of our tax preparation experts.
