If this year's tax filing deadline will be a "pay" day for you and you don't have the cash, the Internal Revenue Service gives you several payment options.

In this tax tip: • Paying with plastic   • Installment plans   • Let's make a deal

First, even if you can't pay your tax bill, go ahead and file your return on time. This way you'll avoid the IRS's failure-to-file penalty of 5 percent per month (up to a maximum of 25 percent) of your balance due. You'll still face the failure-to-pay penalty each month your bill is outstanding, but it's only 0.5 percent of the amount you owe.

Paying with plastic
Now take a look at what you owe.

Some taxpayers find they can pay part or all of their tax bill by putting it on a credit card. The IRS has awarded contracts to two companies to accept credit card charges: Official Payments and Link2Gov. Both accept payments from electronic as well as paper filers, either via phone or the Internet. They take American Express, Discover, MasterCard or VISA.

Credit card tax payment processors

Remember, however, that while this may get you off the hook with Uncle Sam, it will cost you in other ways. Each company has its own fee schedule (generally 2.49 percent of your tax bill or a minimum of $1) connected with charged payments.

And if you don't pay off your credit card in full, you'll start racking up interest charges on your account. In some cases, however, your credit card interest charges might come to less than IRS penalties and interest you'd owe if you don't pay on time.

So before you decide to pay with plastic, run the numbers so that you don't pay anyone, neither Uncle Sam nor your credit card company, any more than necessary.

Installment plans
If your tax bill is too large for a credit card, the IRS is willing to take monthly payments. You even get to pick your monthly payment amount and the day it will be due.

In fact, if you've previously filed (and paid) taxes on time, your tax bill is less than $10,000 and you convince the IRS that you can't come up with that much all at once, the agency can't turn down your request. Your installment plan, however, must pay off the due tax in at least three years. To get the program going, attach Form 9465, Installment Agreement Request, to the front of your tax return.

Financially strapped taxpayers also have the option of using an installment plan to make partial payments of tax liability. The IRS had previously allowed partial installment payments but stopped the practice in 1998 when an IRS attorney raised questions about the IRS's authority to accept such payments without statutory authority. Congress officially granted the IRS the power to resume partial payment installment agreements as part of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004.