Owe the IRS? Don’t wait to file

Capt. Rick Mathew

Office of the Staff Judge Advocate

While the vast majority of Americans receive a refund when filing their taxes, there are taxpayers who have too little withholding and end up owing money to the IRS. For many reasons, these people who owe should not wait until April 15 to file their income tax return. 

First, though a return may be filed earlier, income tax owed to the IRS does not become due until April 15. This means that a taxpayer can file the return, either electronically or through paper, and wait until near the April 15 deadline to pay. This allows the taxpayer avoid the April crowds at their tax preparation service while still giving them time to pay.

The taxpayer has numerous options to pay the amount owed. They can have funds directly debited from a checking or savings account. This can be done as a part of their electronic filing, or can be done afterwards by calling (800) 555-4477 or (800) 945-8400 or going to www.eftps.gov. Payment can be made by credit card by calling either Official Payments Corporation at (800) 2PAYTAX (also www.officialpayments.com) or Link2Gov at (888) PAY-1040 (also www.pay1040.com). Or they can mail the payment, post-marked by April 15, to the IRS.

If the taxpayer thinks they will be unable to pay by April 15, they have the option to set up an installment agreement with the IRS. Taxpayers who owe less than $25,000 can go to the IRS Web site  and use the Online Payment Agreement application to set up installment payments. For all installment agreements, the amount of your installment payment will be based on the amount you owe and your ability to pay that amount. There is a $105 fee for setting up this agreement, but if direct debit is included the fee is reduced to $52. 

Taxpayers can also speak to the IRS if they are unable to make any payments whatsoever. In that case the IRS will determine your ability to pay based on income and expenses and, depending on the outcome of that determination, put a temporary delay on the collection of the bill.

Taxpayers who owe money should discuss with their employer about increasing the amount of withholding from their paycheck to avoid owing taxes next year.

The Fort Bliss Tax Center offers active duty servicemembers and retirees assistance and information on this or any other tax issues. We are located at Bldg. 50 on Doniphan Road and are open Monday through Friday at 7:30 a.m. The office closes at 6 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 3 p.m. Fridays.

For more information, call 568-4999.