How to pay federal taxes

Paying from a bank account costs nothing, through an IRS Online Account or Direct Pay for individuals and a Business Tax Account, Direct Pay or EFTPS for businesses. Card and digital-wallet payments go through private processors that charge their own fee, and checks and money orders are still accepted for now.

Last reviewed September 23, 2026 · Tax year 2026 · Federal

Tax shown on a return is due by the return's original due date, even when you have an extension to file.

Individuals: from a bank account

• IRS Online Account. You sign in, then pay the same day or schedule a payment up to 365 days ahead. The account also shows up to five years of payment history and your balance by year.
• Direct Pay. No account; you confirm your identity with details from a past return. It is free, and you can change or cancel a payment until two business days before its date. A same-day payment submitted after 8 p.m. Eastern typically shows in your Online Account as made the next business day.
• With an e-filed return. Tax software or a preparer can attach a bank debit to the return, called electronic funds withdrawal, at no IRS fee.

EFTPS stopped taking new individual enrollments on October 17, 2025. In January 2026 the IRS said individuals already enrolled must move to the Online Account or Direct Pay later in 2026.

Businesses

A Business Tax Account handles federal tax deposits, balances due and advance payments. It is open to partnerships, S and C corporations and sole proprietors who have an EIN, but not yet to LLCs that file as sole proprietors on Schedule C or F. EFTPS covers income, employment, estimated and excise tax; enrollment takes up to five business days. Direct Pay takes business payments too.

Federal tax deposits, such as payroll tax deposits, must go by electronic funds transfer. They cannot be paid by card, and a deposit made another way may be penalized unless you show reasonable cause.

Card or digital wallet

Two private processors, Pay1040 and ACI Payments, take cards, PayPal and similar wallets. Each sets its own fee, and none of it goes to the IRS; for income tax payments, the Code bars the IRS from paying card fees unless payers cover them in full. Card payments are capped by form and payment type, for example two a year toward a Form 1040 balance and two a quarter toward Form 1040-ES.

Check or money order

As the IRS page read on September 23, 2026, you make it payable to "U.S. Treasury" and write your name, address, phone number, SSN, EIN or ITIN, the tax year and the form or notice number on it. Do not staple or clip it to the return, and allow two weeks for processing. A Form 1040 balance goes with a Form 1040-V voucher.

Executive Order 14247, signed March 25, 2025, covers payments to the IRS. In January 2026 the IRS said checks and money orders are still accepted for now and that it will move to electronic methods over time, with exceptions for hardship and legal requirements. The IRS pages set no end date as of September 23, 2026.

Label the payment

• Balance due: Form 1040 and the year of the return. A 2025 return paid in 2026 is tax year 2025.
• Extension: in Direct Pay, the reason is "Extension" and the form starts with 4868.
• Estimated tax: Form 1040-ES and the year the income is earned. The January payment belongs to the year before.

Proof and shortfalls

An electronic payment produces a confirmation number or a confirmation email at once. Direct Pay cannot retrieve it once you leave the application, though it can email it to you. What else to keep is in How to confirm the IRS received your payment.

Florida has no personal income tax, so an individual's income tax payments go to the IRS only. When the full balance cannot be paid by the due date, the options are in Can't pay in full? Payment plans and your options.

Sources

1. IRC § 6151, time and place for paying tax shown on returns
2. IRC § 6302, mode or time of collection (electronic fund transfer of deposits)
3. Treas. Reg. § 31.6302-1, deposits required to be made by electronic funds transfer
4. IRC § 6311, payment of tax by commercially acceptable means
5. IRC § 6654, failure by individual to pay estimated income tax
6. IRS, Payments
7. IRS, Online account for individuals
8. IRS, Direct Pay with bank account
9. IRS, Direct Pay help
10. IRS, Pay taxes by electronic funds withdrawal
11. IRS, Business tax account
12. IRS, EFTPS, the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System
13. IRS, Pay your taxes by debit or credit card or digital wallet
14. IRS, Frequency limit table by type of tax payment
15. IRS, Pay by check or money order
16. IRS, About Form 1040-V, Payment Voucher for Individuals
17. IRS FS-2026-02, Questions and answers about Executive Order 14247 (January 2026)
18. Florida Constitution, art. VII, § 5 (no tax on the income of natural persons)

This article is general educational information, not tax, legal, or accounting advice, and does not create a client relationship. Tax law changes and depends on your specific facts. Information is current as of September 23, 2026 for tax year 2026; verify before acting. Consult a qualified CPA, EA, or attorney about your situation.

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