How do e-filing payments work?

[benjamingslade]

I'm at the TurboTax 2020 screen titled "E-file Your Federal Return for FREE".  It's giving me a choice of E-file or "File by mail".   If I e-file, do I have to pay by credit card?    Conversely, if I want to pay by check, does that mean I can't e-file?  Nothing on this screen talks about this.  Searching the help files just turns up endless unrelated special situations.

Thanks in advance
Ben

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

You are not paying a fee to e-file your tax return.   Your TurboTax fee is the same whether you e-file your return or put it in an envelope and mail it. 

  If you are asking about paying your tax due--if you owe tax to the IRS or your state:

 If you have federal tax due you can pay by mailing your payment with the 1040V voucher, (which has the address printed on it, having the payment taken out of a designated bank account, or you can pay directly on the IRS website. 

https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-payments/help/how-can-i-pay-my-federal-taxes/00/26212

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-payments/help/how-do-i-pay-my-irs-tax-due-with-a-check-or-mone... 

You must pay your state tax due using the state’s preferred method of receiving payment.  For most states that will be by making a payment to the state’s own tax website, or by mailing a check or money order.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900884-what-are-my-options-for-getting-my-state-refund-or-for-pay...

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901670-how-do-i-contact-my-state-department-of-revenue

[benjamingslade]

Thanks.  They key facts I needed to know are, if I'm e-filing, I can mail in a check after the e-filing (ie., I don't have to pay by credit card.   And, if paying by check, TurboTax prints out vouchers to send in with the checks when mailed at a later time.

Ben

[SteamTrain]

IF you are using using the Browser-based Online TTX software to file..

1)  As long as you don't have any "software" fees to pay, you don't need a credit card.  (meaning you can remain in the "Free" version and don't have to use a higher version due to certain forms required in your tax file).  IF you have to use a higher version to file (e-file or by mail-paper), and you also owe the IRS a balance due, then you will require a CCd to pay TTX for the software fees before e-filing, even if you will later be paying the IRS with a paper check in the mail.

2) Thus, if you can remain in the Free version for your tax file preparation, then you can e-file without a CCd.....and if you owe a balance due to the IRS (or state) you can indicate that you want to pay by paper-check thru the mail during the filing steps.

3) ....then you can e-file, and print out a copy of your tax file, which should include a single 1040V voucher to mail in with your check  (state forms vary).  The amount indicated to pay may, or may not include any late-filing penalties or interest...and even if it does, the IRS may send you a letter and charge you more later depending on "exactly" when they receive your check and open/cash it.....since the software has no way to predict the exact date the IRS actually gets your check.

4)  If your tax file printout contains multiple 1040ES vouchers....those are NOT payments for your 2020 taxes...those are pre-payments against what the software "thinks" you will owe for when you file 2021 taxes next year.  You can either pay those  (though the first two have been missed already),  or ignore them if you are fairly sure you won't have a final balance due of more than $1000 when you file at tax time next year.

[benjamingslade]

Thanks for the details.   I guess my point is, the TurboTax (Deluxe) screen should've had a link to a help page saying what the options were before I committed to actually electronically filing my taxes.

Ben