Why do the 1040-ES vouchers have the words "DO NOT FILE FORM NOT FINAL" on them?

[kamull01]

When I opened 2024 Turbo Tax to send my return to the IRS, it went through the updating process.

Before sending the return though, I double-checked everything and near the end, just before TT got ready to send it, it went through the IRS review and no errors were found. When I reached the stage to transmit it, it was sent. Turbo Tax came back with a message that said "Your Returns have been sent." It gave a date of transmission (January 29, 2025 10:06 PM EST) , an estimated acceptance date of January 31, and my email address for tracking.

At the same time, I received an email dated 10:06 PM that said “You’re almost there. Be sure to keep an eye on your inbox to see if your return is accepted or rejected.” Then about an hour later at 11:12 PM, I received an email that said “Your federal return has been accepted by the IRS.” And about 3 hours after that at 2:22 AM, I clicked on the tab for “Check E-file Status”. It said “The IRS has accepted this return and you’re finished with your taxes.” Inside the email is an orange button that says “Track my refund”. That took me to https://www.irs.gov/refunds. There it says that the return has been received and is being processed.

So, it looks like the transmission went through OK and that the IRS has received it. It looks like processing it and finding everything OK is another matter and that I have to trust that Turbo Tax prepared the Form 1040 correctly and did the calculations correctly, if the return is going to pass through the “processing” stage successfully.

But, I am beginning to have my doubts. I say this because I saved a pdf file of 1040 as it was when it was sent and I found 4 “2025 Form 1040-ES Payment Voucher”s at the end of the file. The vouchers have the words "DO NOT FILE FORM NOT FINAL" on them. If TT did everything correctly, why is this printed on the vouchers??

As I understand it, these vouchers were not a part of the file that was sent to the IRS. So, the IRS does not see them or have a record of them. OK, but what about the vouchers themselves?

Does this “watermark” on the vouchers mean that I can not use them to send my 2025 estimated tax payments by U.S. Mail to the IRS Revenue Service address printed on the voucher?

Why did 2024 Turbo Tax produce them this way? Isn't everything in TT in its final form so that the return can be sent to the IRS on the day the IRS portal opens (Jan 27 this year 2024) and isn’t everything the program produces “up-to-snuff” then??

[Mike9241]

would you believe its because the IRS has not finalized them so they can't be used as of now for filing. but perhaps a better method is to use IRS direct pay for the quarterly estimates. No worry about the envelope and check getting lost in the mail and the possibility of the check being stolen, altered and cashed. 

[kamull01]

OK, that "watermark" is there because that is how the IRS presents them right now?  In other words, Turbo Tax didn't put the "watermark" there on its own and so, it's not due to any error on Turbo Tax's part?  In other words, the IRS doesn't have them ready yet??  Not hard to believe, though! 

I wonder if the IRS is ready to accept 2025 estimated tax payments yet?  January 15, 2025 (the deadline for the 4th quarter 2024 estimated tax payment) has passed now. 

[dc_pitman]

Had same issue here as well. Both my returns were accepted but watermark was on pdf printout, but also the front summary pages are missing that give overview of the Federal and State returns, so wondered if Turbotax having software issues this year. I used online version not download version. I wondered if IRS will accept my estimated payments with said watermark on vouchers. Guess I'll check again in a few more weeks to see if IRS has updated them yet. I usually file mid-late February and never had this problem before. However we were in different tax situation this year so I was anxious to find out what we owed so could get my mind ready LOL. I think after seeing all the software glitches I am seeing this year it may be time to use another program next year. But I know not to use H&R Block software - that is one that botched my son's return one year. I've used TT for over 22 years. 

[kamull01]

The reply from Mike9421 indicates that the IRS has not released the 2025 vouchers yet. I checked irs.gov for them and neither 2025 Publication 505 (which is about estimated tax payments) nor the 2025 voucher-form is available yet. That’s why TT printed them with the “watermark”.

Those “watermark” forms were not sent to the IRS with your return. The IRS never sees them, until you put one in the U.S. mail each quarter. So, if you plan to mail in a voucher quarter by quarter, you’ll have to wait until the IRS releases the 2025 vouchers that you can print off and send in an envelope to the IRS address on the voucher. (My “watermark” forms have an address that is in my region; I think the forms on the IRS website, when they are released, will have the main IRS address. The regional address that you see in YOUR pdf file will probably work.) The deadline for the 1st payment is not until April 15, 2025, so that means you might be waiting for a while before you will find them at irs.gov to print off.

The suggestion on how to pay by Mike9421 works, too. At irs.gov, pay online via DirectPay or set up an online account and make (or schedule) the payments from there, to be deducted from checking or savings at your financial institution. You provide the routing number and the account number, when asked. That way you do not have to print out the vouchers and use the U.S. mail to send them – everything is digital.

P.S.  I used the desktop version of TT Deluxe and had no missing TT front pages in the pdf file that the Print Center created.