Your EFTPS PIN is a four-digit code the U.S. Department of the Treasury mails to you after you enroll in the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. You use it, together with your Taxpayer Identification Number and an Internet Password you create yourself, every time you log in to schedule a federal tax payment.1Bureau of the Fiscal Service, U.S. Department of the Treasury. Electronic Federal Tax Payment System A replacement, if you lose it, takes five to seven business days to arrive by mail. Before going further, one boundary: as of October 17, 2025, new individual taxpayers can no longer enroll in EFTPS, and existing individual users will be moved off the system by roughly September 2026 in favor of IRS Direct Pay or an IRS Online Account.2Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). Welcome to EFTPS Online If you’re an individual who hasn’t already enrolled, EFTPS is closed to you. The rest of this covers businesses and existing individual users.
How the PIN Is Issued
Enrollment begins at eftps.gov. You submit your EIN (or SSN for an existing individual account), the bank account and routing numbers you want debited, and your name and address exactly as they appear on IRS records.2Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). Welcome to EFTPS Online
You will not see the PIN on screen and you cannot get it over the phone. The Treasury prints the four-digit PIN and mails it to your IRS address of record. That takes five to seven business days.2Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). Welcome to EFTPS Online Plan around this. A new business that waits until a deposit is nearly due can miss the deadline while the envelope is still in the mail.
The address matters more than people realize. The PIN goes to whatever address the IRS has on file, not necessarily the address you type into the enrollment form. If you have moved and haven’t told the IRS, the PIN goes to the old place. Businesses update their address with Form 8822-B; individuals use Form 8822.3Internal Revenue Service. Address Changes The IRS also warns that USPS mail forwarding is not a reliable substitute for updating your address with them directly.
What You Need to Log In
Three credentials, working together. If any one is missing, you cannot get in.
- Your Taxpayer Identification Number — the EIN for a business, or SSN for an existing individual account. This identifies your enrollment.
- Your four-digit EFTPS PIN. It stays the same unless you request a replacement.4EFTPS.gov. EFTPS Payment Instruction Booklet
- Your Internet Password, which you create yourself the first time you log in with the mailed PIN. Unlike the PIN, you can change this whenever you want.
Since October 2023, EFTPS also requires multifactor authentication through Login.gov or ID.me after you enter those three credentials.2Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). Welcome to EFTPS Online In practice that means you need a verified identity account with one of those services in addition to your EFTPS credentials. Set that up before you need it, not the afternoon a deposit is due.
Recovering a Lost or Forgotten PIN
You cannot reset or look up the PIN on the EFTPS website. The only path to a replacement is calling EFTPS customer service at 1-800-555-8778.5Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. EFTPS FAQ – General A representative verifies your identity by asking for your Taxpayer Identification Number and details from a recent payment. Once verified, a new PIN is printed and mailed to your IRS address of record. The wait is the same five to seven business days as the original, and the PIN will not be read to you on the phone or emailed.6Fiscal Service, Department of the Treasury. EFTPS Payment Instruction Booklet
Because the replacement goes to your address of record, update your address with the IRS before you request the replacement if you have moved. Otherwise your new PIN heads to your old mailbox.3Internal Revenue Service. Address Changes
When a Deposit Is Due and Your PIN Isn’t
A missing PIN with a deposit due tomorrow is a common problem, and the five-to-seven-day mailing window doesn’t bend for tax deadlines. You have two workable options.
The fastest is a same-day wire. Download the IRS Same-Day Taxpayer Worksheet from irs.gov, fill it out, and take it to your bank. The bank initiates a wire transfer straight to the Treasury, and no EFTPS credentials are involved. Call your bank first to confirm they offer the service, what they charge, and their cut-off time for same-day processing. You’ll need a separate worksheet for each tax form or period you’re paying.7Internal Revenue Service. Same-Day Wire Federal Tax Payments
The IRS now also offers IRS Direct Pay for businesses and the IRS business tax account as alternative ways to deposit federal taxes electronically. Neither requires an EFTPS PIN, so it’s worth setting one up as a backup channel even if EFTPS is your primary route.8Internal Revenue Service. Topic No 757, Forms 941 and 944 – Deposit Requirements
Penalties If You Miss the Deadline
If a lost PIN causes a late employment tax deposit, the failure-to-deposit penalty applies at these rates:9Internal Revenue Service. Failure to Deposit Penalty
- 1 to 5 calendar days late: 2% of the unpaid deposit
- 6 to 15 calendar days late: 5% of the unpaid deposit
- More than 15 calendar days late: 10% of the unpaid deposit
- More than 10 days after an IRS notice demanding payment: 15% of the unpaid deposit
The tiers don’t stack. A deposit twenty days late incurs 10%, not the sum. Interest runs on top of the penalty. The same penalty schedule applies if you’re required to deposit electronically and instead mail a check, because the IRS treats that as a deposit made in the wrong way.9Internal Revenue Service. Failure to Deposit Penalty
Asking for Relief When the PIN Was the Problem
If a late payment was caused by a system issue, including the wait for a replacement PIN, you can request penalty relief for reasonable cause. The IRS lists system issues that delayed an electronic payment as a valid ground for that relief.10Internal Revenue Service. Penalty Relief for Reasonable Cause Explain what happened, when you called EFTPS to request the replacement, and what you did in the meantime to try to pay by other means. Keep records of the call and any correspondence. The IRS is looking for evidence that you exercised ordinary care, not that you forgot the PIN and did nothing.
Keeping the PIN Safe
Your four-digit PIN, paired with your EIN or SSN, is enough to authorize payments from your bank account. The IRS has flagged phishing emails that specifically target EFTPS users, usually claiming a payment was rejected and pointing to a fake site loaded with malware. EFTPS and the IRS do not email users about failed payments or ask them to click a link to fix one. Forward any suspicious message to phishing@irs.gov and don’t click through.11Internal Revenue Service. Current Phishing Scam Posing as IRS, Targets EFTPS
Store the PIN the way you’d store any banking credential. Keep it off sticky notes, and limit who inside your business has access to it.
If Your Tax Professional Handles Payments
A CPA or payroll service may pay through the EFTPS Batch Provider system rather than logging in under your credentials. Batch providers receive a separate Master PIN for each registration they create and manage payments for multiple clients under that registration. Within each client enrollment, they can also set an optional four-digit Enrollment PIN that guards against unauthorized payments for that specific client.12U.S. Department of the Treasury. EFTPS Batch Provider Software User Manual If someone else is running your deposits, confirm with them which PIN structure they use and what the fallback is if they lose access. You don’t want to find the gap on a deposit day.