How to Fill Out and Use the EFTPS Direct Payment Worksheet (Short Form)

The EFTPS Direct Payment Worksheet is a one-page planning sheet you fill out before logging into the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, so every field the site or phone line asks for is already written down in front of you. Fill in your taxpayer ID, PIN, bank routing and account numbers, tax form number, tax period, payment amount, and settlement date on the worksheet, then read those entries into EFTPS online or by phone and record the confirmation number the system gives back. EFTPS is a free U.S. Department of the Treasury service available 24 hours a day for business and individual taxpayers.¹

One boundary to flag before you start. As of October 2025, individuals can no longer create new EFTPS enrollments, and all individual taxpayers are expected to move to IRS Direct Pay or an IRS Online Account by September 2026.² Individuals with an existing active account can keep using it and the worksheet until then. Businesses are not affected.

What to Have in Front of You

Pull these together before you write anything on the worksheet:

Your Taxpayer Identification Number: Social Security Number for an individual, or nine-digit Employer Identification Number for a business.³
Your four-digit EFTPS PIN, mailed to you when the account was activated.
Your EFTPS Internet Password, which is separate from the PIN.¹
Your bank’s nine-digit ABA routing number and your checking or savings account number, from the bottom of a check or your bank’s portal.
The tax form number that generated the liability: Form 941 for quarterly employment taxes, Form 1040-ES for individual estimated tax, Form 940 for federal unemployment, Form 720 for excise taxes, and so on.⁴
The exact payment amount, down to the cent.

Having everything at hand prevents the most common EFTPS frustration: getting timed out mid-session because you left to hunt for an account number.

Filling In Each Field

Work through the worksheet top to bottom. It mirrors the fields you’ll enter online or hear prompted on the phone.

Taxpayer and Bank Details

Write your EIN or SSN in the designated space. Underneath, enter the bank routing transit number and the account number exactly as they appear on your check or statement. Check the routing number twice. Transposing one digit sends the payment to the wrong bank, and EFTPS won’t catch the error until the withdrawal fails.

Tax Type and Tax Period

The tax type field tells the IRS which sub-account to credit. Write the form number that matches your liability. A business paying employment taxes withheld from paychecks enters Form 941; an individual making a quarterly estimated payment enters Form 1040-ES.

The tax period is the calendar year and the specific quarter or month the payment covers. Third-quarter employment taxes, for instance, cover the period ending September 30. This is one of the easiest fields to get wrong, and the consequence is real: the IRS credits the payment to whatever period you select, even if it’s the wrong one, and you’ll have to call to get the money moved.

Payment Amount

Enter the amount to the cent, matching what your return or deposit schedule shows you owe. If the payment includes interest or a penalty on top of the base tax, the worksheet has separate optional lines for those.

Settlement Date

The settlement date is the business day Treasury withdraws the money from your bank. You can schedule payments up to 365 days in advance, which is convenient if you want to line up all four quarterly estimated payments in one sitting.⁵

The timing rule matters. Your payment must be scheduled by 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time at least one calendar day before the tax due date for the IRS to receive it on time.² If a due date lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday, you have until the next business day.⁶ Pick a settlement date with a day or two of buffer. Waiting until the last possible evening invites trouble if the site is slow or your bank rejects the transaction.

Using the Worksheet to Submit the Payment

Once the worksheet is filled in, treat it as a script while you enter the payment through either channel.

Online

Log in at EFTPS.gov with your EIN or SSN, PIN, and Internet Password. After authenticating through Login.gov or ID.me, choose “Make a Payment” and enter each field from your worksheet: tax type, tax period, amount, and settlement date. A confirmation screen shows everything back to you. Compare it against the worksheet before you authorize. This is your last chance to catch a wrong digit.

By Phone

Call 1-800-555-3453 to reach the EFTPS voice response system, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.⁷ Enter your EIN or SSN and PIN when prompted, then press 1 to make a payment. The system walks you through tax type, period, amount, and settlement date, and reads each entry back for confirmation. With the worksheet in front of you the call runs about two minutes.

Save the Acknowledgment Number

After you authorize the payment, EFTPS issues a 15-digit EFT Acknowledgment Number.⁸ Write it on the worksheet right away. It is your receipt, and it is the single strongest piece of evidence if the IRS ever claims the payment wasn’t received. If you paid online, save or print the confirmation page as a backup.

The funds leave your bank on the settlement date you chose. Check your statement a day or two later to confirm the withdrawal cleared. Keep the worksheet with the acknowledgment number for at least three years, the general period the IRS has to audit a return.⁹

If You Need to Fix a Scheduled Payment

If the amount, tax period, or settlement date on a scheduled payment is wrong, cancel it online or by phone by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time at least two business days before the settlement date. A payment set for Monday cannot be canceled after 11:59 p.m. the previous Thursday.¹⁰

You cannot modify a submitted payment. If you catch the mistake within the cancellation window, cancel the wrong one and immediately schedule a new one using a fresh worksheet with the correct details. If you miss that window, contact the IRS directly to request a correction after the payment processes.

Lost your PIN in the middle of all this? Call EFTPS customer service at 1-800-555-4477. After identity verification, a replacement PIN is mailed to your IRS address of record; it will not be given over the phone. If you need to make a payment while you wait, the agent on that same call can schedule it for you.²

1
Internal Revenue Service. EFTPS: The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System
2
Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. Welcome to EFTPS Online
3
Internal Revenue Service. Taxpayer Identification Numbers
4
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 941, Employers Quarterly Federal Tax Return
5
Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. Electronic Federal Tax Payment System Financial Institution Handbook
6
Internal Revenue Service. Employment Tax Due Dates
7
U.S. Department of the Treasury. EFTPS Direct Payment Worksheet
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U.S. Department of the Treasury Fiscal Service. EFTPS Payment Instruction Booklet for Business and Individual Taxpayers
9
Internal Revenue Service. How Long Should I Keep Records
10
Internal Revenue Service. Payment Instruction Booklet