The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced the launch of a new online application to help taxpayers. The new tool, available on IRS.gov, allows taxpayers to view their tax account balance online. The balance includes any amount owed for tax, as well as penalties and interest for each tax year. Once you view your balance, you can take advantage of online payment options, including direct pay, pay by debit or credit card and Online Payment Agreement.
Don’t go crazy: it isn’t a 24-hour option. The tool is available Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. ET; Saturday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET; and Sunday, 6 p.m. to midnight ET. The balance will update no more than once every 24 hours, usually overnight.
“This new tool is part of the IRS’s commitment to improve and expand taxpayer services by providing additional online taxpayer options,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “The new ‘balance due’ feature, paired with the existing online payment options, will increase the availability of self-service interactions with the IRS. This will give taxpayers another way to take care of their tax obligations in a fast and secure manner.”
Before using the tool, taxpayers must authenticate their identities through the Secure Access process. This is a two-step authentication process, which means returning users must have their credentials (username and password) plus a security code sent as a text to their mobile phones. Taxpayers who have previously registered using Secure Access for Get Transcript Online or Get an IP PIN can use the same username and password as before.
For taxpayers who haven’t yet used the system, to get started with Secure Access, new users will need:
- A readily available (and valid) email address;
- Social Security number;
- Your filing status and address from your last filed tax return;
- Your personal account number from a credit card, home mortgage loan, home equity (second mortgage) loan, home equity line of credit (HELOC), or car loan; and
- A readily available mobile phone.
As part of the security process to authenticate taxpayers, the IRS will send verification, activation or security codes via email and text. Remember that the IRS will not initiate contact via text or email asking for log-in information or personal data. You won’t be asked to click through links or input additional information with authentication contacts: those IRS texts and emails will only contain one-time codes.
The IRS anticipates that other capabilities for taxpayers will be added as they are developed and tested.
