3 Ways To Pay Your Estimated Tax

Doesn’t matter which extension you file, either the personal, business, tax-exempt, or *takes deep breath* an extension for military personnel, a resident of Puerto Rico, or a nonresident foreigner, the fine print will always remain the same. The extension only lengthens the time you have to file your return – not the time you have to pay any taxes owed to the IRS. You are required to pay your estimated tax liability by the original due date.

But figuring out your tax liability without having all the necessary information, which is why you probably filed an extension to begin with, can be like trying to make your way through a dim, wet cave. Feel free to utilize the following blogs to shine some light:

• Paying Your Estimated Taxes
• Calculating Estimated Taxes

Now that you have “enlightened” the cave… Get it? Anyway, now that you got your light, you have one of three paths you can take in order to make it out this cave.

Why three paths, you ask? Well, once you figure out your estimated tax liability, you have a choice of three different ways to make your IRS payment.

Path #1 – Postal Mail
No matter how far technology takes us, nothing really beats good, old-fashioned pen and paper. If you choose to pay your tax due by mail:

• Do not send cash 
• Make a check or money order payable to the “United States Treasury”
• Write your social security number, daytime phone number, and ” 2014 Form ‘Name'” on your check or money order
• Do not staple or attach your payment to the Form
• Use a completed paper Form as a voucher (if you e-filed your tax form)

Afterwards, you can mail your form and payment to:
Internal Revenue Service
P.O. Box 802503
Cincinnati, OH 45280-2503

Path #2 – Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS)
The IRS can also accept payments via EFTPS. You have to schedule the EFTPS payment on your own, and you are responsible for timely payment of the taxes. Please visit www.eftps.gov or call 1-800-555-4477. For your EFTPS payments to be on time, you must initiate the transaction at least one business day before the date the payment is due.