Do I still owe the IRS if I already paid my 2019 taxes but just received a bill from them?

[tgteas]

We filed for an extension this year for our 2019 taxes and paid our taxes by the 10/15/2020 extension.  Yesterday, 12/11/2020, we received a bill from the IRS that there is an amount due for taxes. Do we still pay the bill?

[VolvoGirl]

Is it for the amount you paid?  Or is it for an extra amount like a late penalty and interest?  The tax due was due on July 15, not Oct 15.  Oct 15 was only to file the return.  Or they changed something on your return so you owe more.  You probably need to pay it.

[macuser_22]

Probably for late fees and interest since an extension only gives you extra time to get your paper work together and FILE.     Any any tax due must have been paid by the due date of the return which was July 15 of 2019.    Late fees and interest started after July 15.   An extension does NOT extend the date to pay, so yes, you must pay it.

[VolvoGirl]

Thought of something else.  How did you pay it?  Maybe they could not process your payment.  Do you have proof it came out of your bank account or credit card?

[tgteas]

Yes, our bank statement shows we paid it by the 10/15 extension deadline. Sounds like more fees were accrued this year. Just wanted to make sure that we actually owed it. I had read an article that said the IRS was extremely backlogged this year and that some people were erroneously getting billed. There wasn’t much info about why we still owed on the bill so I thought I would ask around.

 Thank you.

[VolvoGirl]

Sorry as we said the payment deadline was July 15 this  year (instead of April 15).   The extension to Oct 15 is only to file the 1040 return.  The payment was still due April 15 (July 15 for 2020).   So you probably got a bill for interest.  It should say what it is.