IRS Installment Payments after July 15 – Did You Know
As part of the federal government’s COVID-19 (coronavirus) relief programs, the U.S. Treasury allowed many taxpayers with an IRS installment payment agreement, or a pending or accepted Offer-in-Compromise (OIC), to suspend payments between April 1 and July 15, 2020. The IRS recently confirmed that to avoid penalties, affected taxpayers must resume making required payments by their first due date on or after July 15, or contact the IRS if they cannot do so.
The IRS guidance includes the following key points:
- If you currently have an installment agreement with the IRS and had your bank stop making automatic payments due to the pandemic, you should tell your bank to restart these payments by your first payment due date after July 15. If you are unable to make your payments due to coronavirus-related hardships, you may call the phone number on your IRS notice to discuss options. You may also avoid long phone wait times by submitting an online application (see link below) to revise your agreement.
- If you have a pending OIC and suspended your payments, simply resume making scheduled payments by July 15. If your offer is accepted, the IRS will update the agreement to allow you to make any missed payments at the end of the offer period.
- If you suspended payments on a previously approved OIC, the IRS requires that you not only resume making payments on July 15, but also make up any skipped payments by that due date. If you are unable to make up your missed payments at this time, call the phone number on your IRS notice to discuss your options.
- If your IRS tax debt was referred to a private collection agency before April 1, 2020 but you suspended payments between April 1 and July 15, you will need to restart payments to the collection agency. You should also contact your collection agency representative to find out if it is appropriate to update or restructure your payment agreement based on your current circumstances.
Remember also that although the IRS did not impose penalties for skipped payments during the April 1 – July 15 grace period, interest charges may still have accrued on the tax debt. Most importantly, if you are unable to make any required federal tax payment, contact the IRS as soon as possible to discuss your situation.
When dealing with the IRS, it is always best to be proactive.
Apply for or revise an installment payment agreement:
https://www.irs.gov/pa…/online-payment-agreement-application
