To use IRS Direct Pay, go to the Direct Pay page on IRS.gov, choose a personal or business payment, select the tax form and year the payment applies to, verify your identity using information from a prior federal return, then enter your U.S. bank routing and account numbers along with the withdrawal date. There’s no login, no registration, and no fee. Save the confirmation number the system gives you at the end. You’ll need it to look up, change, or cancel the payment.
What Direct Pay Handles
On the individual side, Direct Pay accepts balances due on Form 1040, amended returns on Form 1040-X, estimated payments on Form 1040-ES, and extension payments on Form 4868. It also takes payments tied to proposed assessments, CP2000 notices, and offshore voluntary disclosure filings.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help
Businesses use a separate Direct Pay portal that covers Forms 940, 941, 943, 945, 1120, 1065, and 720, among others. Payments can be applied to the current tax year or to any of the prior 20.2Internal Revenue Service. Types of Business Payments Available Through Direct Pay
What You Need Before You Start
Have three things in front of you:
- A checking or savings account at a U.S. financial institution, with the nine-digit routing number and the account number. Foreign banks with no U.S. affiliate won’t work.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help
- A previously filed federal tax return. The system asks you to match specific details from that return, such as your filing status and a dollar amount from a particular line. Direct Pay 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
- Your Social Security Number or ITIN and date of birth.
One boundary worth knowing up front: if you’ve never filed a federal return, or you’re paying on your very first return, Direct Pay can’t verify you. You’ll need EFTPS, a card payment, or a mailed check instead.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help
Making the Payment
Open the Direct Pay page on IRS.gov and pick personal or business. On the first screen you’ll choose:3Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay with Bank Account
- The reason for the payment (balance due, estimated tax, extension, and so on)
- The tax form the payment relates to
- The tax year the payment applies to
The next screen handles identity verification. You enter your SSN or ITIN, date of birth, and the details from the prior return you’re using to verify. Once the system accepts the match, you enter the payment amount and the date you want the money withdrawn. You can schedule up to 30 days out. The final screen collects your routing number, account number, and account type, then asks you to authorize the debit.
When the payment goes through, the confirmation screen displays a confirmation number. Write it down or check the box to have it emailed to you.4Internal Revenue Service. Pay Personal Taxes from Your Bank Account Without it, you can’t look the payment up later.
When the System Is Open
Direct Pay isn’t 24/7. It runs 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 gap and the early Sunday hours are maintenance windows. On a deadline day, don’t push against 11:45 p.m. Eastern.
If Identity Verification Fails
Direct Pay checks you against IRS records every time, so every field has to match what the IRS has on file. A recent name change, a new address, or a small rounding difference can bounce the attempt.
The fix is usually to pick a different prior year and enter the name and address as they appeared on that year’s return. If you moved in 2025, for example, your 2024 return still shows the old address, and choosing that return with that address should verify.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help If nothing matches, you’ll need to switch to EFTPS or another payment method.
Changing, Canceling, or Looking Up a Payment
Use the “Look Up a Payment” tool on the Direct Pay page with your confirmation number. You can modify or cancel a scheduled payment up until 11:59 p.m. Eastern two business days before the withdrawal date. After that cutoff, the payment processes as submitted.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help
Payments scheduled for a weekend or bank holiday withdraw on the next business day. Your bank may still show a pending hold in the meantime.5Internal Revenue Service. Pay Taxes by Electronic Funds Withdrawal
After the withdrawal date, allow two business days for the payment to show in your IRS Online Account. If your bank confirms the money left but the IRS still doesn’t show the payment after that, call the IRS.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help
Limits Worth Knowing
Each Direct Pay transaction caps at $9,999,999.99, and you can submit up to five payments in any 24-hour period.1Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay Help Larger single payments have to go through EFTPS or a same-day wire.6Internal Revenue Service. Pay Business Taxes from Your Bank Account
If the Payment Bounces
A Direct Pay withdrawal that fails for insufficient funds is treated like a bounced check. The dishonored payment penalty is the smaller of the payment amount or $25 when the payment is under $1,250, and 2% of the payment when it’s $1,250 or more.7Internal Revenue Service. Dishonored Check or Other Form of Payment Penalty
The tax itself also stays unpaid, so the failure-to-pay penalty starts running at 0.5% of the unpaid balance per month, up to 25%, and interest compounds daily at a rate that adjusts quarterly. The individual underpayment rate was 7% in early 2026.8Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 653, IRS Notices and Bills, Penalties and Interest Charges9Internal Revenue Service. Quarterly Interest Rates Confirm your balance before the withdrawal date, especially if other automatic drafts hit the same account.