New legislation aims to even the playing field for tax online payments.
U.S. Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA)introduced bipartisan legislation to amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax payments scheduled through the Treasury Department’s Electronic Federal Payment System (EFTPS) to be consistent with the “Mailbox Rule”
The IRS “Mailbox Rule” allows for payments and other communications sent to the IRS via postal mail, to be considered received on time so long as the post mark bears the IRS’s prescribed due sate.
Currently, tax payments paid through EFTPS must be scheduled by 8 pm the day before the due date to be considered as received timely by the IRS.
LaHood says this legislation would create parity between electronic payments and mailed in payments, allowing the electronic payments made on or before the due date to be considered timely paid by the IRS.
LaHood says taxpayers who make payments or file documents through the Treasury Department’s Electronic Federal Tax Payment System shouldn’t be forced to face different filing deadlines than those who file by mail.
The National Taxpayer Advocate recommended earlier this year that all electronic payments should qualify for the “Mailbox Rule.”