Electronic tax payment enrollment alert

I cannot believe it's September! At the first of each month, which for me is today since I took most of the Labor Day long weekend off, I look at the financial tasks I have to complete within the next 30 days.

It's usually pay the bills, balance the bank account, contribute to the IRA. All pretty routine.

September, however, is an added-duty month. On the 17th, our estimated tax payments are due. If you file a 1040ES, too, I wanted to be sure to remind you that you can do so electronically .

Now in the spirit of full disclosure, I've run into some glitches with the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, or EFTPS.

Back in January, it was a brain fart on my part that led to momentary payment complications. Then in June, I discovered my regular tax payment was misdirected to our 2007 estimated account, but I'm not taking all the blame on that mistake.

Those issues notwithstanding, I'm still committed to electronic tax payment. So sometime next week, I'll sign back on and transfer money for our third 2007 estimated payment from our account to the Treasury.

If you're interested in joining me in the e-process, you need to sign up ASAP. To use EFTPS, you have to establish an account first, which the IRS says could take up to 15 days, primarily because they snail mail your enrollment specifics to you. Yeah, I know. It seems counterintuitive to me, too, but that's Uncle Sam.

When I enrolled back in 2006, I got my account material in about a week. So there's a good chance that if you head over to the EFTPS Web page today, you'll be able to use the system for your September 1040ES payment.

And if you and/or the IRS are a bit slow, you'll at least be ready when the January payment's due.

Comments

[Kay]

If you don't want to mess with estimated taxes, you can bump up your payroll withholding. Just turn in a new W-4. You can either change exemption amount (fewer means less money taken out; if you're single, change it to zero) or you can have a specific dollar amount taken out, say $50 more a paycheck. Just change it back in January if you want more cash in your check.

[Steve Austin]

I'm all rigged up and ready to pay Uncle!

I have tried to determine whether or not I need to make a Sep payment. My current estimated 2007 tax liability is about $976. My understanding is that I can make that payment in April with no penalty. But if I find that my estimated liability rises to $1000 or above by the middle of the month, do I need to make a small payment just to keep my outstanding amount below the penalizable $1000?