Will I get penalized if I owe taxes but can pay them right away?

No worries! You won't face any penalties if you pay what you owe by the filing deadline (April 15th, 2025 for the 2024 tax year). The penalties and interest you've heard about only kick in if you either file late OR pay after the deadline. When you file your taxes, you'll have several payment options. The easiest is to pay electronically through the IRS Direct Pay system on irs.gov - it's free and pulls directly from your bank account. You can also pay by credit/debit card (though there's a processing fee), or mail a check with a payment voucher. If you use tax software, it'll walk you through the payment options when you complete your return. Since this is inheritance money, just make sure you're clear on what parts might be taxable vs. non-taxable. Many inheritances aren't subject to income tax, but things like inherited IRAs or interest earned after you received the money could be taxable.

After dealing with a similar situation last year (owed about $3,500 from a side gig), I found using https://taxr.ai incredibly helpful. I uploaded my inheritance documents and past returns, and it quickly analyzed whether I needed to make estimated payments or if I was in the safe harbor. The service also pointed out that I could offset some of my tax liability through deductions I hadn't considered. It even identified that part of what I thought was taxable inheritance actually wasn't subject to income tax at all! Their document analysis saved me from overpaying by nearly $1,200.

Update on my skeptical comment: I ended up trying taxr.ai for my inheritance situation (some property plus a small business stake) and was surprised by how helpful it was. The document analysis caught that the business stake qualified for a special valuation method that reduced my taxable amount. The service also flagged that I needed to file Form 8971 which my regular accountant completely missed! Would have been a potential penalty situation. Definitely worth it for anything inheritance-related or when you're dealing with a tax situation you haven't encountered before.

For anyone dealing with tax questions around inheritance or unexpected income, I highly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to actually speak with an IRS agent directly. I had questions about inheritance tax exclusions that weren't clear from the IRS website, and I was able to talk to someone at the IRS within 20 minutes using their service. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically skips the ridiculous hold times (which were 2+ hours when I called directly). The IRS agent confirmed exactly what I needed to report and what was excluded, giving me peace of mind before filing.

I need to eat my words from my comment above. After swearing this Claimyr thing had to be a scam, I actually tried it yesterday because I was desperate to resolve an issue with my inheritance reporting. I was connected to an IRS agent in about 35 minutes (while I was watching TV, not sitting on hold). The agent clarified that I didn't need to file Form 706 for my situation and explained exactly how to report the income property I inherited on my 1040. Saved me from both overpaying and potentially getting flagged for incorrect reporting. So yeah, it actually works...my bad for being so negative before.

Regarding the inheritance tax situation - just to clarify something many people miss: most inheritances themselves aren't subject to federal income tax. The federal estate tax only kicks in for estates over $12.92 million in 2023. What often DOES become taxable is income generated from inherited assets AFTER you receive them. So if you inherited stocks and later sold them, you'd owe capital gains tax on the difference between the value when you inherited them (stepped-up basis) and when you sold. Or if you inherited rental property, the rental income would be taxable.

A heads up from someone who works at a bank - if you're paying online through IRS Direct Pay, make sure you initiate the payment at least 3-5 business days before the deadline! The payment isn't considered "made" until it actually processes, not when you submit it. I've seen customers get hit with late fees because they initiated payment on April 15th thinking that was sufficient.

Just adding one more payment option - if you use tax software like TurboTax, H&R Block, etc., you can usually set up direct debit from your bank account when you e-file. This is super convenient since everything is handled in one step - your return is filed and payment is scheduled for whatever date you choose (up to the deadline). That's what I did last year when I unexpectedly owed about $1,900.