How to make tax payments through EFTPS.gov system?
Hi everyone, I'm trying to figure out how to make my quarterly tax payments through the EFTPS.gov website. I registered successfully a few weeks ago and got all my confirmation stuff in the mail. When I log in and try to select the option to pay, I get completely lost in the system. There are so many options and tax types that I don't know which one to choose. I'm self-employed and need to make my estimated quarterly tax payment that's due soon. Has anyone used this system before who can walk me through the basic steps? The IRS instructions aren't very clear and I'm worried about selecting the wrong option and having my payment go to the wrong place. Thanks for any help!
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Giovanni Gallo
The EFTPS system can definitely be confusing at first! I've been using it for years for my quarterly estimated taxes. Here's a simple walkthrough: After logging in, click on "Make a Payment" and select "Federal Tax Payment" (not "Federal Tax Deposit"). Then choose "1040 Individual Income Tax" as your tax form and "Estimated Tax" as the tax type. You'll need to specify the tax year and which quarter you're paying for (1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th quarter). Enter the payment amount and settlement date (when you want the payment to process - can be same day or scheduled future date). The system will give you a confirmation number - always write this down or take a screenshot as proof of your payment. You'll also get an email confirmation if you've set that up in your preferences.
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Fatima Al-Mazrouei
•Thanks for explaining! Quick question - do I need to make separate payments if I'm also paying self-employment tax? Or is that all included when I select the estimated tax option?
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Giovanni Gallo
•The estimated tax payment option covers both your income tax and self-employment tax together. You don't need to make separate payments for self-employment tax. If you're making quarterly estimated tax payments as a self-employed person, you're covering your income tax, self-employment tax, and any other applicable taxes in that single estimated payment. The IRS will sort it out when you file your annual return.
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Dylan Wright
After struggling with trying to pay my quarterly taxes, I found this AI tool that analyzes tax documents and walks you through complicated systems like EFTPS. It's called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it saved me SO much time. I uploaded screenshots of the EFTPS payment screens and it gave me step-by-step instructions for my specific situation. Before this I kept getting confused between the different tax types and whether to select "federal tax payment" or "federal tax deposit" since I have both self-employment and a part-time W-2 job.
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NebulaKnight
•Does it actually explain what all those different tax type options mean? I'm looking at EFTPS right now and there are like 20 different choices!
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Sofia Ramirez
•How secure is uploading your tax info to an online AI tool though? I'm always paranoid about my tax documents getting leaked or something.
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Dylan Wright
•It does explain all the different tax types and which ones apply to your specific situation. The explanations are super clear and they match it to your circumstances based on what you tell it. The security is actually really good - they use bank-level encryption and don't store your documents after analysis. I was concerned about that too but they explain their security protocols on their site, and honestly, I was more worried about messing up my tax payment than anything else.
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NebulaKnight
Just wanted to update after trying taxr.ai. It actually worked great for helping me understand EFTPS! I uploaded screenshots of the payment screens and it explained exactly which options to choose for my situation (I'm a freelancer with irregular income). It walked me through selecting the right tax type and explained the difference between federal tax payments and deposits. Just made my first quarterly payment successfully! The step-by-step guide it created was way clearer than anything on the IRS website.
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Dmitry Popov
If you're having trouble getting EFTPS to work correctly, you can also call the IRS directly for help. I know that sounds like a nightmare but I used a service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to skip the ridiculous wait times. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c When I couldn't figure out why my EFTPS payment wasn't going through (turns out I had entered an old bank account), they got me connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. The agent walked me through the whole process while I was on the phone with them.
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Ava Rodriguez
•How does this even work? The IRS phone lines are impossible to get through on. Is this just some scammy service that charges you money and doesn't actually do anything?
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Miguel Ortiz
•Yeah right. Nobody gets through to the IRS in 20 minutes. I've literally spent DAYS trying to reach someone there about my missed refund. I'll believe it when I see it.
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Dmitry Popov
•It works by using technology that monitors the IRS phone systems and automatically redials for you when it detects shorter wait times. When an agent answers, it calls your phone and connects you directly to that agent. I was super skeptical too! I spent three whole days trying to get through on my own before trying this. I'm not exaggerating when I say I was connected in about 20 minutes, though sometimes it can take longer depending on call volume. It feels like magic after struggling with the regular phone system.
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Miguel Ortiz
OK I have to admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After my frustrated comment I decided to try it anyway because I was desperate to resolve my missing refund issue. I figured it couldn't make things worse. Shockingly, I was talking to an actual IRS person in about 35 minutes. For comparison, my previous attempts kept me on hold for 2+ hours before disconnecting. The agent helped me figure out why my EFTPS payments weren't being credited correctly to my account (had to do with a name mismatch). Worth every penny just for the stress relief of not listening to that awful hold music for hours.
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Zainab Khalil
Has anyone had issues with payments not being credited even though you got a confirmation number? I made a payment last quarter and got the confirmation email, but when I checked my transcript online it shows no payment received. Super stressful.
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QuantumQuest
•This happened to me last year! Check if the bank account number you entered is correct. I had accidentally switched two digits in my account number. Even though EFTPS gave me a confirmation, the payment bounced when they tried to process it. Also call your bank to see if they rejected the transaction for any reason. Sometimes fraud protection can kick in for government payments if you haven't made them before.
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Zainab Khalil
•I checked my bank account details and they're correct. My bank didn't show any rejected transactions either. I wonder if it's a timing issue. Maybe there's a delay between when EFTPS processes the payment and when it shows up on my transcript? It's been almost 3 weeks though which seems too long.
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Connor Murphy
One tip that helped me with EFTPS: you can schedule all your quarterly payments for the ENTIRE YEAR at once! I just set up all four payments in January with the correct due dates, and I never have to worry about forgetting a payment. The system will automatically process them on the dates you select.
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Yara Haddad
•Do you know if you can change or cancel a scheduled payment if your income situation changes? Like if I schedule all 4 payments but then earn less than expected in Q3.
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Aisha Jackson
•Yes, you can modify or cancel scheduled payments in EFTPS! You just need to log in and go to the "View/Modify Scheduled Payments" section. As long as it's before the settlement date (usually need at least 1-2 business days notice), you can change the amount or cancel completely. This is really helpful for estimated taxes since our income can be unpredictable throughout the year. I've had to adjust my Q3 and Q4 payments several times when projects got delayed or canceled.
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Andre Dubois
Another thing to keep in mind when using EFTPS - make sure you're making your payment at least 1-2 business days before the due date, especially if it's your first time using the system. I learned this the hard way when I tried to make a same-day payment on the quarterly deadline and ran into technical issues with the website being slow. Even though EFTPS allows same-day payments, giving yourself that buffer helps avoid any last-minute stress. Also, if you're ever unsure about which tax period to select, the current quarter due dates are: Q1 (Jan-Mar) due April 15th, Q2 (Apr-May) due June 15th, Q3 (Jun-Aug) due September 15th, and Q4 (Sep-Dec) due January 15th of the following year.
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Liam Fitzgerald
•This is really helpful advice about the buffer time! I'm new to making quarterly payments and was planning to wait until the last minute. Quick question - if I schedule a payment for say 2 days before the due date, does EFTPS process it on that scheduled date or could there still be delays? I'm just paranoid about getting hit with late payment penalties since this is my first year being self-employed.
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