How (and Why) to Make Electronic Payments to the IRS for Your 2025 Personal Tax Bill

The IRS issued Executive Order 14247 on March 25, 2025, mandating the phase out of paper checks for refunds from or payments to the U.S. government beginning September 30, 2025. As a result, this tax season, as an individual taxpayer your federal tax refunds must be directly deposited into a bank account. However, as of the date of this blog, the IRS has not set a date indicating when they will no longer accept paper checks for individual tax payments.

So why should you consider making a payment to the IRS electronically this year, and as early as possible, if it’s not yet required? There are two primary reasons:

• The United States Post Office (USPS) changed their policy as of December 24, 2025, stating a postmark no longer shows the date you drop off a piece of mail at USPS. Instead, they will postmark your mail the day it arrives at a processing facility. This means the postmark date may be several days after you dropped off your check at the USPS. So, if you drop it off on April 15, the IRS could consider it late depending on the actual postmark. However, if you make your payment online, the IRS will use that date as the date of payment.
• Since this is a new process, making your electronic payments sooner rather than later can help with any complications that may arise.

How to Make an Online Tax Payment to the IRS

Making payments to the IRS online is secure and easy; you can create an IRS online account or make a guest payment via bank account or credit card. Below is what you need to know and do.

How to Create an IRS Online Account

• Create an IRS online account for individuals. Click on “Sign in or create account.”
• If you are creating a new account, click the “ID.me create account” button. If you have an ID.me account already, click “Sign in with ID.me button.” Learn more in our blog on “How to Create an ID.me Account.”

Creating an online account versus using the guest payment option will give you access to your specific tax records. You can view prior year tax return transcripts, the status of your refund, digital notices from the IRS and available return documents, such as W-2s and 1099s.

How to Create an IRS Guest Account

• Use the guest payment feature via the “Make a Payment” page on the IRS website.
• You will need information from a previously filed Form 1040, including the tax year, as well as your filing status, first name, last name, social security number, date of birth and address.

Note: Regardless of which method you use to make your electronic payment, be sure to save the confirmation information for your files. It’s also a good idea to forward that confirmation to your tax adviser to have on file along with your other tax documents.

As the federal government transitions from paper checks and the USPS postmark rules create new risks around mailing payments, moving to electronic IRS payments may help protect you from penalties and processing delays. Establishing an IRS online account or using the guest payment option can help ensure your tax payment is credited on time and documented properly as these changes take effect.

Contact Laura White or a member of your service team to discuss this topic further.

In this blog Cohen & Co is not rendering legal, accounting, investment, tax or other professional advice. Rather, the information contained in this blog is for general informational purposes only. Any decisions or actions based on the general information contained in this blog should be made or taken only after a detailed review of the specific facts, circumstances and current law with your professional advisers.