If you want to properly manage your taxes, signing up for an IRS Online Account is the smartest way to do it (Read our dedicated blog on why you should have one). However, if you are trying to meet a payment deadline and don’t have the luxury of time to pass its authentication process, you can make a guest payment using the IRS Direct Pay.
What is IRS Direct Pay?
The IRS Direct Pay is a free online payment method in which you can pay federal taxes directly from your checking or savings account at zero cost to you. It is a convenient, fast, and secure way to pay your individual taxes.
How to Use
Access the IRS Direct Pay link and click “Make a Payment”. IRS Direct Pay will then ask for your reason for payment, the tax form in which the payment will be applied, and taxable year.
Step 1. Tax Information
Select the applicable reason for making a tax payment using the drop-down menu inside the “Reason for Payment” box. You can make payments for a wide selection of federal taxes and listed below are the most common reasons that you may select for your tax payments:
- Balance Due – make a payment for a recently filed Individual Income Tax Return – 1040, Health care (Form 1040), Retirement plans (5329), or Tax-favored accounts (5329)
- Estimated Tax – make estimated tax payments (1040-ES (for 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ)) or schedule payments up to 365 days in advance. Note that if you are making a late estimated tax payment after January 31st, you should select “Balance Due” as the reason for payment instead.
- Extension – make a full or partial payment on your taxes in order to receive an automatic extension to file (4868 for 1040) without having to file Form 4868. Note that this does not provide a time extension to pay your taxes.
- Amended Return – make a full or initial payment on a recently filed Form 1040X, or when an amendment to your return results in a balance due to your Health Care Individual Responsibility (also known as Shared Responsibility).
- Payment Plan/Installment Agreement – make a regularly scheduled payment for your installment agreement plan, as shown on your CP521 or CP523 notice.
There are other types of taxes that you can pay using IRS Direct Pay such as payments for proposed tax assessments, CP2000, CP2501 or CP3219A notices, civil penalties, etc. as long as it is for an individual tax account.
Step 2. Identity Verification
The IRS Direct Pay does not require any prior registration; however you need to verify your identity by providing your personal information such as birthdate, filing status, social security number (SSN), and address every time you make a payment.
You must also choose from any of your past filed tax returns (as far as 5 to 6 years depending on the time of the year) which the IRS will use to verify your personal information. Remember to input your data, especially your address, exactly as it was recorded in the tax return that you selected. Otherwise, the IRS cannot verify your identity.
It is important to note that one cannot use the IRS Direct Pay if they have never filed a federal tax return, or if they are making a payment for their first federal tax return.
Step 3. Payment Details and Schedule
The third step simply requires your payment details such as the amount to pay, bank information, and the date you want the payment to proceed. You can opt to receive an email confirmation for your tax payment.
This is also where you can set the date for your scheduled tax payments. If you set a scheduled payment, you will receive an email reminder two days before the actual payment.
Step 4. Review and Submit
A summary of all your provided information will be displayed for you to review and ensure the correctness of your data. If you need to make changes, you can directly edit the details in the provided summary. Once done with the review, just complete the electronic signature and click “Submit” to make your payment.
Step 5. Documentation
After submitting your payment, the IRS Direct pay will show the summary of your payment details with a confirmation number. Be sure to print or keep your confirmation number for future reference.
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