Sometimes it seems like I should just wrap my tax payment up with a box.
The best thing about paying taxes on-line is that you get a confirmation that you actually paid the tax. (It’s also especially helpful when you’re waiting until the last minute and didn’t get your check in the mail on time!)
If you’re paying the IRS use IRS Direct Pay. Direct pay has no extra fees. You make the payment directly from your bank account. Here’s the link: IRS Direct Pay
It’s going to ask the reason for your payment. For most people, it’s going to be “Tax Return or Notice”. But, if you’re reading this and you haven’t filed yet, it’s also the place to go to file an extension. I’m talking about paying your federal taxes, so in the next section where it says “Apply payment to” you’re going to pick “1040, 1040A, 1040EZ”.
The next block is for the tax period. You’re going to pick the year. So, if you’re paying your current tax bill, that’s your 2017 taxes. Click on 2017 and hit “continue.”
The next page is the verification page. This is where they want to prove it’s really you. They want your name and social security number and the address you used on your tax return last year! Note the last year part! If you’ve moved, the IRS doesn’t know that yet.
And here’s something else helpful. If you are married, and your spouse’s name is listed first on the tax return – use his/her name and his/her social security number when you pay that bill. The IRS systems aren’t that sophisticated. If you use the “spouse” social instead of the “taxpayer” social, your account might not get credited properly.
After the IRS identifies you, then you proceed with the payment screens. It’s actually pretty easy from there.
If you want to pay with a credit card instead, you can go to 1040paytax.com
But remember, using your credit or debit card has fees. The higher your tax bill, the higher the fees. So if you can pay the full balance due with your bank account, that’s going to save you some money.
If you are trying to pay your Missouri taxes, you may use the Missouri Department of Revenue JetPay site. The catch is – if I give you the link to Jet Pay, it times out. So, I’m going to give you a link to the Missouri Department of Revenue site – from there, on the right hand side of the page you’ll see where it says “Popular Online Services”. In that box is a link to Jet Pay. So you’ll click on that. Here’s a link to Missouri Department of Revenue
Click on: “I would like to Process a Payment”.
The City of St Louis does not currently accept online payments, but if you want to you pay call and make the payment by credit card over the phone. There is a 2.45% service fee for that though. The City of St Louis line for business returns is (314) 622-4248.
If you owe Illinois taxes, go to My Tax Illinois
You will click on “Make an Individual Income Tax Payment” and you’ll follow the prompts from there. (If you get a white page that says click here to start over, do that and it should take you right there. The web address is mytax.illinois.gov in case you have trouble getting there.)