The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) is an online federal tax payment system in the United States designed and maintained by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Financial Management Service (FMS) branches of the United States Department of the Treasury.
Contents
History
EFTPS started in 1996.
Services
EFTPS allows individuals and businesses to make their tax and estimated tax payments securely online using their bank accounts. Payments can be made only after enrolling in the system, and the enrollment process can take about a week (initial online enrollment is followed by relevant information being sent by physical mail, after which the online enrollment process may be completed). The enrollment process includes information about the bank account from which one's payments will be debited.
Payments must be scheduled at least 1 day and at most 365 days in advance. Separate modalities exist for same-day payment.
A Forbes article about EFTPS recommends using the service to make estimated tax payments, noting that one can schedule payments in advance but also modify the payments in case of some unexpected changes to plans. The article also notes the importance of planning in advance the first year one intends to use the service: "The first year you sign up for the federal online system you need some lead time because a PIN is sent via snail mail within five to seven days. Then you go back online to set up your quarterly estimated payments, plugging in your checking account information and the dates you want the estimated payments withdrawn."
Privacy
The EFTPS website claims that the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies do not obtain access to the enrollee's account, and only payments explicitly scheduled or authorized by the enrollee are processed by the website. In particular, the EFTPS account cannot be used by the IRS to confiscate assets if they believe that taxes were underpaid.