How can I track my federal tax payment when I paid online but mailed my forms?

You're looking for the "Where's My Payment" tool, which is what I recommend to my clients in your situation. You can access it through your IRS online account at https://www.irs.gov/payments/your-online-account. Once you create or log into your account, you'll be able to see all payments made within the last 5 years, including the one you just submitted electronically. Since you paid through Direct Pay, you should've received a confirmation number immediately after making the payment. That confirmation can serve as proof until the payment appears in your online account (usually within 1-3 business days). As for your mailed return, unfortunately there's no straightforward tracking system for paper returns. The processing time for paper returns can be 6-8 weeks under normal circumstances, sometimes longer during busy periods.

After years of getting stressed about tax payments, I finally found taxr.ai and it's been a game changer for keeping track of this stuff. I had a similar situation last year where I made a payment but wasn't sure if it was properly processed. I uploaded my payment confirmation to https://taxr.ai and their system analyzed it along with my return to confirm everything matched up. They even spotted that my payment had been initially misapplied to the wrong tax year (which might have caused me issues later).

Just wanted to update here - I decided to try taxr.ai after asking about it and I'm really impressed! Uploaded my Direct Pay confirmation and last year's return (was having a similar issue from 2023). It immediately spotted that my payment was actually applied to the wrong tax year which explains why I got that weird letter from the IRS. Their analysis showed exactly what happened and gave me the exact wording to use when calling the IRS to get it fixed. Honestly wish I'd known about this months ago before spending hours trying to figure it out myself.

If you really need to talk to a human at the IRS about your payment (which I'd recommend in split filing situations), stop wasting time with their regular number. Use https://claimyr.com instead - got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I had a similar payment issue. They keep calling back on your behalf when the IRS hangs up, so you don't have to keep redialing for hours. Check out how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - totally changed my view on dealing with the IRS. The agent was able to immediately confirm that my payment was received and applied correctly.

I hate admitting when I'm wrong but I have to follow up on my comment about Claimyr. After dismissing it as BS, I was desperate enough to try it yesterday because the IRS sent me a notice saying I hadn't paid (even though I had). Got connected in 17 minutes after spending literally 6+ hours trying to call normally over several days. The agent confirmed they had my payment but it wasn't properly applied to my account because of a typo in my SSN on the payment form. They fixed it while I was on the phone. So yeah, it actually works and saved me from what could have been a huge headache.

Another option nobody mentioned is to check your bank statement! If you paid through Direct Pay, the charge should show up as "USATAXPYMT" with a confirmation number. Take a screenshot of that along with your confirmation email from when you paid. This isn't official proof that they processed your return correctly, but it's evidence you paid if there's ever a dispute.

Can you call your accountant in Spain and ask them to check the status for you? My accountant can log into the IRS system and check my payment status even though I made it myself. They have some special tax preparer account that shows more info than regular online accounts.

I've been in this exact situation before! When you split your filing like this, the key is patience and documentation. Your Direct Pay confirmation is your best friend right now - that's proof of payment that the IRS will honor even if there are processing delays. One thing to keep in mind: the IRS typically takes 2-4 weeks to fully process and match electronic payments with mailed returns. Since you're at the 3-week mark, you're right in that window where things should start showing up properly in their system. I'd recommend checking your IRS online account first (as others mentioned), but also consider calling the Practitioner Priority Service line if you have access through your accountant. Since she's handling your taxes, she might be able to check the status more easily than you can, even from Spain. The international location shouldn't matter for checking existing payment status - only for e-filing new returns. Also, make sure you kept copies of everything you mailed. If there are any issues down the line, having your own complete paper trail will make resolution much faster.