To use IRS Direct Pay, go to the Direct Pay page on IRS.gov, choose whether you’re paying personal or business taxes, verify your identity with information from a prior tax return, and then enter your U.S. bank routing and account numbers to authorize the withdrawal. It’s free, no login or registration is required, and you can schedule the payment up to 30 days in advance.
What You Need Before You Open Direct Pay
Have three things ready: a checking or savings account at a U.S. financial institution, that account’s nine-digit routing number and account number, and a previously filed federal tax return. International banks with no U.S. affiliate won’t work.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help
The prior return is for identity verification. Direct Pay will ask you to match specific details from it, such as filing status and a dollar amount from a particular line. The system can pull from returns going back five to six years depending on the time of year, and the IRS recommends using your most recent one.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help
One hard limit: if you’ve never filed a federal return, or you’re paying on your very first return, Direct Pay can’t verify you. Use EFTPS, a card payment, or a mailed check instead.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help
The Payment, Step by Step
Open the Direct Pay page and choose personal or business. On the first screen, pick a reason for the payment (balance due, estimated tax, extension, and so on), the tax form it relates to, and the tax year the payment should apply to.2Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay with Bank Account You can apply a payment to the current year or to prior years going back up to 20 years.3Internal Revenue Service. Types of Business Payments Available Through Direct Pay
Next, verify your identity. Enter your Social Security Number or ITIN, your date of birth, and the matching information from the prior return you selected. Every detail has to line up with what the IRS has on file. If verification fails, try a different prior tax year and enter the name and address exactly as they appeared on that year’s return. For example, if you moved in 2025, your 2024 return still shows the old address, so pick 2024 and use the old address.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help
After the system confirms you, enter the amount and choose a withdrawal date up to 30 days out. The final screen asks for your routing number, account number, and account type. Submit, and you’ll get an on-screen confirmation number. Save it right then, or opt in for the confirmation email. You’ll need that number if you later want to look up, change, or cancel the payment.4Internal Revenue Service. Pay Personal Taxes from Your Bank Account
When the System Is Available
Direct Pay doesn’t run 24/7. The hours are Monday through Saturday from 12:00 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. Eastern, and Sunday from 7:00 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. Eastern.4Internal Revenue Service. Pay Personal Taxes from Your Bank Account The nightly 15-minute gap and the early Sunday downtime are for maintenance. On a deadline day, don’t push a payment up against 11:45 p.m. Eastern.
If you schedule a payment for a weekend or bank holiday, the withdrawal happens on the next business day. Your bank may show a pending hold in the meantime.5Internal Revenue Service. Pay Taxes by Electronic Funds Withdrawal
Payment Limits
Each Direct Pay transaction has to come in under $10 million; the maximum is $9,999,999.99. You can submit up to five payments in any 24-hour period.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help For a single transaction of $10 million or more, use EFTPS or a same-day wire.6Internal Revenue Service. Pay Business Taxes from Your Bank Account
Changing or Canceling a Scheduled Payment
Use the “Look Up a Payment” feature on the Direct Pay page and enter your confirmation number. You have until 11:59 p.m. Eastern on the day that falls two business days before the scheduled withdrawal. After that cutoff, the payment processes as submitted.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help
Confirming the Payment Went Through
Allow about two business days after the withdrawal date for the payment to show up in your IRS Online Account. Check your bank statement to make sure the right amount came out. If your bank confirms the funds left your account but the payment still isn’t posted at the IRS after that window, call the IRS with your confirmation number in hand.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help
This matters most for estimated tax payments, where a missed quarter can turn into an underpayment penalty later.
If the Payment Bounces
If your bank rejects the withdrawal for insufficient funds, the IRS applies a dishonored payment penalty, same as a bounced check. For a failed payment under $1,250, the penalty is the payment amount or $25, whichever is less. For $1,250 or more, the penalty is 2% of the payment.7Internal Revenue Service. Dishonored Check or Other Form of Payment Penalty The underlying tax also stays unpaid, so failure-to-pay penalties and interest keep accruing until you successfully send the money.8Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 653, IRS Notices and Bills, Penalties and Interest Charges Check your balance before the withdrawal date, especially if other automatic debits share the account.
When to Use EFTPS Instead
Direct Pay is built for one-off payments. If you make federal tax deposits regularly, EFTPS is the better long-term tool: it keeps a payment history tied to your account, handles single payments of $10 million or more, and allows scheduling further in advance.6Internal Revenue Service. Pay Business Taxes from Your Bank Account The tradeoff is that EFTPS requires enrollment and mails a PIN to your IRS address of record in five to seven business days, so it’s not an option for a same-day payment the first time you use it.9Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. Welcome to EFTPS Online If you’ve never filed, you’ll need EFTPS, a card payment, or a check regardless.