What happens if you complete your tax return close to the filing deadline of April 15th, only to discover that you owe the IRS a lot more money than you have available to pay? You may have claimed too many exemptions on your W-4 or didn’t pay enough in estimated taxes or cashed in a retirement plan early. Whatever the reason for owing taxes, if you don’t have enough money on hand, you have the option of setting up a payment plan.
There are three options for setting up a payment plan – through the online payment agreement form, over the telephone, or by filling out a form and including it with your tax return paperwork.
If you can’t pay your taxes all at once, don’t panic. There are many people who find themselves in this situation each year and the Internal Revenue Service has made it possible for people to make payments towards what they owe. Here’s what you need to do in order to set up an installment plan to pay your taxes:
1. Know how much you owe. If you aren’t sure how much you owe, enlist the help of an accountant or other tax professional who can help you figure it out. If you owe back taxes from previous years, you can get copies of tax returns from the IRS to see how much you owe. Don’t forget to account for penalties and interest.
2. Request a payment plan. Call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 or use the online payment agreement application to request a payment plan. You can also fill out Form 9465 and include it with your tax return when you file. However, keep in mind that the longer you wait, the more you pay in interest and penalties. It’s faster to call or apply online and it will also reduce the amount you pay in interest and penalties. See this page on IRS.gov for more information.
3. Prepare to pay the fee for the payment plan. There is a one-time fee charged to set up an IRS payment plan and the amount you pay depends on which option you choose for making payments:
- Direct debit payment plan agreement – $52 fee
- Online payment plan agreement- $105 fee
- Payroll deduction payment plan agreement – $105 fee
The IRS does not have to honor your request for a payment plan, but for the most part if you owe less than $10,000 and you’ve filed your tax returns on time previously, you’re likely to be approved. They also look at whether or not you had a payment plan to pay taxes within the last five years and whether or not the payment plan you set up was or will be paid in full within three years when making the decision to grant a payment plan.
This is a guest post written by Matt Robinson, president of TaxDebtHelp.com, a company designed to help with tax debt. If you are in need of IRS debt help, this site can help you figure out what your options are and provide services.
