This story appears in the
December 2001 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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Using the Internet to direct tax payments just got easier. The
IRS recently announced a series of new enhancements to its
Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) that will make it
possible to use an online option to send in your federal tax
payments.
Dubbed "EFTP-OnLine," the system doesn't use
credit cards; instead, it gathers information for the IRS to debit
your bank account. You can use it 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, and it offers an instant, printable EFT acknowledgment number
that documents the transaction.
After you enroll on the Internet, the service will mail you a
confirmation kit with instructions for obtaining a password.
On the issue of privacy, the IRS says the site exceeds private
industry best practices with regard to prevention, detection and
containment responses. (See October's
Tax Talk for more on EFTPS privacy issues.)
These enhancements are good news for users. "For businesses
that haven't been using EFTPS, the online service represents an
easy way to make the transition into electronic payment," says
Mike Dolan, director of IRS policies and dispute resolution with
KPMG's tax controversy service. "For those already using
the system, the latest developments make EFTPS even more
convenient."
For more information, go to www.eftps.gov or call (800) 945-8400.
Great Falls, Virginia, writer Joan Szabo has reported on tax
issues for more than 14 years.
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