EFTPS Online Tax Payment

The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System® or EFTPS is a free tax payment service provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury. It is available to all tax professionals, payroll services, and financial institutions to pay their federal taxes.

Tax payments can be carried out through the EFTPS website (1) or over a voice response system any time of the day as EFTPS payment service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

EFTPS also allows you to schedule business payments up to 120 days in advance and individual payments up to 365 days in advance.

1. What does EFTPS stands for?2. Details required to apply for EFTPS 3. How to enroll in EFTPS?4. EFTPS payment types 5. EFTPS online pay 6. EFTPS pay by phone 7. Advantages of EFTPS payments 9. FAQs

Understanding the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System

The EFTPS payment service allows individuals or businesses to make tax payments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). However, it's best to plan ahead if you wish to use EFTPS, as you can use the service only after enrollment, a process that takes up to 7 business days.

While the service makes tax payment easy, it involves taking a few steps beforehand. After the initial online registration, a physical mail is sent to the address specified during registration. The mail includes bank account verification for payment transactions and a unique PIN.

With EFTPS, you can also schedule payments in advance and even make modifications in the future due to unexpected changes, including insufficient funds in your bank account.

In instances that the EFTPS is not functioning properly or remains unavailable for any reason, the IRS requires you to make tax payments on time through other payment options.

As of Jan. 2020, you may connect to the EFTPS voice response system at 1-800-555-3453, contact EFTPS customer service agent at 1-800-555-4477, or log on to EFTPS.gov.

Key Takeaways

EFTPS is a service provided by the U.S. Department of the Treasury that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
EFTPS allows you to make tax payments either online or by phone.
The system also enables you to file directly with the IRS by providing a filer's social security number and personalized PIN.
EFTPS allows you to pay your income, employment, estimated, and excise federal tax payments.

Information required for EFTPS 2290 Payment

You need the below details to make an EFTPS payment:

Taxpayer ID Number (EIN) :
EIN or TIN is the nine-digit number assigned to you by the IRS to identify taxpayers and businesses while filing their returns.

PIN:
The four-digit number that was sent to your registered address via the U.S. Mail.

Last eight digits of your Enrollment Number:
The enrollment number can be found on the letter containing your EFTPS PIN.

[ Read: EFTPS vs Direct Debit ]

EFTPS Online Enrollment Process

Follow these steps to enroll:

Visit www.eftps.gov and click on Enrollment
Accept the Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act terms
Specify whether you are enrolling as a business, individual, or a federal agency
Enter your personal information, contact information, and financial information
Review the information that you’ve entered
Authorize a transaction by providing your business checking account information (routing number and account number).
Once enrolled, you can log in to your EFTPS account and start filing your tax.

EFTPS Payment Options

You can make a payment through EFTPS in three different ways:

Online
Through telephone
Financial Institution

EFTPS Online Payments

Follow the below steps to make online payment through EFTPS:

Log in to your EFTPS account using your EIN, PIN, and password and click on the ‘Payments’ option
Enter your Employer Identification Number, the four-digit PIN, and either the banking information you used while enrolling or the last eight digits of the enrollment number
Select the tax form, payment type, tax period, and amount (and subcategory information, if applicable)
Select the date you want your payment to be made
Confirm the payment. You’ll get an EFT Acknowledgment Number receipt.

[ Read: How to File Form 2290? ]

Pay 2290 on EFTPS by phone

Follow the below instructions to make payment through telephone:

 Gather your information, including your EIN (for business) or SSN (for individual), PIN, and tax form number
Call the EFTPS Tax Payment toll-free number 1800 555 3453
Follow the voice prompts to select the tax form, payment type, tax period, and amount (and subcategory information, if applicable). If you encounter any problems, you will be transferred automatically to a live operator for assistance.
Once payment is debited from your bank account. A EFT Acknowledgment Number will be dictated. Write down the Acknowledgment Number for future reference

Using a Financial Institution

Unlike the other two payment methods where you make the payment yourself, you can also opt for your financial institution to initiate the payment. In this method, the entity you choose sends the payment to the Department of Treasury.

If you choose to make a payment using this option, you will have access to the EFTPS® payment history function, but you cannot cancel or make payments yourself.

Ensure that you contact your financial institution regarding availability, possible fees, and deadline before enrolling for this option.

EFTPS Security and Privacy

The EFTPS website offers complete protection of financial information to its users with a secure server, complete with internal security firewalls and policies. This, in turn, protects against unintended and unwanted parties from gaining access.

The site processes only explicitly authorized or scheduled payments. In addition, the system requires enrollees to provide their unique PIN received post the enrollment process.

Furthermore, taxpayers must enter their taxpayer identification number and password to access the website and use the services connected to sensitive financial information.

Beware of Scams Affecting the EFTPS: Keep in mind that you may be at risk of phishing scams when using EFTPS. There were instances of fraudulent emails sent targeting EFTPS users in the past.

The emails indicated rejection of their identification numbers, prompting them to click an embedded link to change their personal details. The link installed malware on users' computers to access banking information.

It is strongly recommended to contact EFTPS if you receive any such emails.

Benefits of using EFTPS Payment

The benefits of EFTPS are:

Ability to schedule payments up to 365 days in advance.
24/7 tax payment from home or office
Easily change or cancel scheduled payments
Payment confirmation through email notifications
Ability to view 15 months of payment history

Frequently Asked Questions around EFTPS

Q. Which Taxes Can I Pay with EFTPS?

A. The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System allows taxpayers to pay all federal taxes. Some common kinds of tax payments made by small businesses include:

Payroll taxes: These are taxes you withhold and remit if you are an employer. As an employer, you must withhold income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes from your employees, which fall under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA).

As a result, employers must also contribute a matching portion for FICA taxes. Apart from income and FICA taxes, you need to pay the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) and state unemployment taxes (SUTA). EFTPS allows you to pay FICA, federal income, and federal unemployment taxes.

Estimated taxes: If you are a self-employed individual, the IRS requires you to make estimated tax payments for your federal income tax liability. With EFTPS, you can make estimated tax payments weekly, monthly, or quarterly.

Self-employment tax: Individuals who are not incorporated (e.g., corporation) must pay self-employment tax, such as Social Security and Medicare taxes.

Corporate taxes: If your business is a corporation, you can pay your federal corporate taxes using EFTPS.

Excise tax: Excise taxes are taxes applied for goods, such as gasoline and alcohol. Businesses that deal with selling these types of goods must collect the excise tax from customers during the sale. You can pay the federal excise taxes over the phone or online using EFTPS.

Q. How to cancel an EFTPS payment?

A.To cancel an EFTPS payment, you will need the following information:

Your EIN
PIN
Tax form number
The last eight digits of the EFT Acknowledgment Number for the payment you wish to cancel

If you are planning to cancel the payment online, you need to login to your EFTPS account and select ‘Payments’. Select “Cancel a Payment” and follow the cancellation process. You will receive a cancellation EFT Acknowledgment Number after completing the cancellation process. Keep this number safe for future reference.

If you want to cancel an EFTPS payment through telephone, call 1800 555 3453 and follow the voice prompts. Once you’ve confirmed cancellation, a cancellation EFT Acknowledgment Number will be dictated. Note down this number for future reference.

Q. Can you schedule EFTPS payments in advance?

A.Yes. Business taxpayers can schedule payments up to 120 days in advance, and individual taxpayers can schedule payments up to 365 days ahead of the due date.

Q. Can I Use EFTPS if I Have a Payroll-Processing Service?

A. Your payroll-processing service can make some tax payments and filings for you using EFTPS.
However, it is a good idea to enroll yourself in EFTPS even if you have a payroll service so you can monitor payments made for you and change payroll service companies with ease.

Q. Is EFTPS Online Payment safe?

A. Yes. EFTPS is highly secure as payments are transmitted through a secure server that has firewalls to prevent unauthorized access of users’ financial information.

The EFTPS website also requires payees to enter the confidential PIN, their taxpayer identification number and a password on top of that to make a payment.

This three-step process ensures secure transactions and prevents any unauthorized access.

Q. What's the Difference Between EFTPS and E-File?

A. Simply stated, you can use EFTPS to make tax payments, whereas E-file is for filing tax returns (which may or may not include tax payments).

Q. What's the Difference between EFTPS and Direct Pay?

A. Direct Pay is an electronic payment tool by the IRS, similar to EFTPS. However, there is a difference between the two payment methods. EFTPS allows individuals and business owners to pay their federal taxes, whereas only individuals can use Direct Pay.

Further, EFTPS allows individuals and businesses to make an unlimited transfer of money for payments, unlike Direct Pay, which caps at $10 million.

Final Thoughts

While filing IRS form 2290, opting for EFTPS is not only safe and secure but also reduces the chance of your confidential information falling into the wrong hands. Using a secure payment method and a trusted, IRS approved e-filing service provider like eForm2290.com ensures that your tax filing process is easy and worry-free.