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Dear Tax Talk,
Can I pay taxes by credit card?
-- Jack
Dear Jack,
It used to be the IRS only liked cash and it wanted all at once. Today's IRS is more flexible than ever. You
can pay your taxes by credit card through a third party credit card processing service, such as
officialpayments.com. The fee for this service is about 2.5 percent of the tax payment.
The payment is processed immediately, and prevents the further accrual of interest and penalty,
if you're paying late. The charge is posted to your credit card statement as United States Treasury, and is your
receipt of payment.
If you want to pay a balance due with your return, you can arrange for an electronic fund
withdrawal through most tax software and tax professionals. There is no convenience fee associated with an
electronic funds withdrawal.
You can also set up to pay your taxes at scheduled intervals through
EFTPS.com. Enrollment is simple but takes a couple of
weeks before you can begin making payments. Individuals can use EFTPS to pay their quarterly estimates as well
as other taxes that are due.
The advantage for quarterly payments is that you can schedule it in advance once a year and
forget about the odd due dates for the payments. No more missed deadlines, vouchers to keep track of, checks
to write or last minute trips to the post office.
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