I have been advocating paying taxes electronically for quite some time now. Doing so is not only safe and accurate but eliminates any concern about the checks getting lost in the mail or stolen. This is especially true if the payment amount is large. Paying taxes electronically removes any potential late payment penalties.
It is so easy to forget sending in quarterly estimated tax payments. Setting them up to have the payments taken out of your bank account automatically on the due date makes a lot of sense.
The December 2009 issue of the Journal of Accountancy has an article on the subject and the author agrees. One caveat is that I would not advise anyone to pay taxes with their credit card unless it is the last resort.
Below is the first and last paragraphs of the article. You can click on the link to read the entire article.
http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/taxadv/dec2009/hurtt.pdf
With the e-filing of tax returns becoming more and more prevalent, practitioners and their clients should also take advantage of other electronic services that the IRS has introduced in recent years. These include the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), electronic funds withdrawal, and payment by credit or debit card. This article
discusses the requirements and advantages of these electronic services.
More and more taxpayers are using electronic means to pay their taxes due to the number of available payment options. While each option has its pros and cons, depending upon the taxpayer’s or the practitioner’s needs, the options are safe and secure and give the taxpayer a streamlined way to pay taxes.
