Balance Due
- Most taxpayers pay the balance due by mailing a check, together with a payment voucher form (Form 1040-V, for federal; CA Form 3582, for CA), to the IRS and/or FTB (addresses on page iv). But taxpayers can pay in other ways: by providing direct debit information on their tax return (direct transfer from a bank account), or by various direct pay options, including via credit card.
- If a taxpayer cannot pay in full, see the “Unable to Pay/Late Filing” section, page 125.
- Warning for CA returns: Once a taxpayer files an original CA return with a total tax liability over $80,000, or makes an estimate or extension payment over $20,000, all subsequent payments regardless of amount, tax type, or taxable year must be paid electronically. The first payment that triggers the mandatory e-pay requirement need not be made electronically. Taxpayers that do not send the payment electronically will be subject to a 1% noncompliance penalty.
- Such a triggering return would be out-of-scope due to high income triggering NIIT, but be aware that a subsequent, lower-income return, would also require e-pay.
- A taxpayer can request a waiver from mandatory e-pay if one or more of the following is true:
- They did not make an estimated tax or extension payment over $20,000 during the current or prior tax year
- The total tax liability reported for the previous taxable year wasn’t over $80,000
- The amount paid greatly exceeded their tax liability (the triggering payment was unnecessarily big).
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