May 16, 2006; 06:07 AM
Washington,
DC - The U.S.
Department of the Treasury today announced two initiatives that will
simplify the way small businesses, individual taxpayers and tax
preparers file and pay their federal taxes. These initiatives are:
-- Enhanced Batch Provider Software for Tax Professionals
The new software allows tax preparers to make large numbers
of payments on behalf of clients with the single click of a mouse by
using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). The new
application offers several improvements, including electronic
registration and enrollment, real-time payment and enrollment data,
real-time file transmission and replication, and enhanced report
generation. The software may be downloaded by going to
http://www.eftps.gov and clicking on What's New. EFTPS enables tax
preparers, businesses and individuals to pay federal taxes
electronically, including corporate, excise and employment taxes, and
1040 quarterly estimated tax payments. Taxes may be paid via the
Internet or a telephone voice response system.
-- Paying
Electronically--A Natural with Annual Filing
Under new
temporary and proposed IRS rule changes, nearly 950,000 small
businesses are now eligible to file and pay taxes once a year using
new Form 944 (Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return), rather than
quarterly using Form 941 (Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return).
Small businesses that make the switch should consider simplifying the
process further by using EFTPS to make a single electronic tax
payment with their annual return. Eligible businesses are those with
an estimated employment tax liability of $1,000 or less. For more
information, please see
http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=152458,00.html.
"These
initiatives are further examples of the government's broader
commitment to provide taxpayers with simpler, more streamlined ways
of paying and filing taxes," added IRS Small
Business/Self-Employed Commissioner Kevin M. Brown. "Electronic
offerings like IRS e-file and EFTPS save taxpayers time and money
while offering increased accuracy and security."
"EFTPS
had a tremendous year in 2005. Taxpayers paid $1.87 trillion using
EFTPS last year, up 16 percent from 2004, and the number of payments
rose 11 percent to 80.4 million," said Donald Hammond, Treasury
Fiscal Assistant Secretary. "We anticipate even more growth in
2006 as a result of these new initiatives. Treasury has listened to
tax preparers and taxpayers and we are continually working to update
the system to better meet their needs and to make the electronic
payment of federal taxes easier for them."
Paying
federal taxes electronically through EFTPS also improves efficiency
for the government and for taxpayers and tax preparers. It costs the
government 53 cents less to process an electronic payment than it
does to process a payment made using a paper coupon or paper check.
Taxpayers and preparers who use EFTPS no longer have to go to the
bank and wait in line to make a tax payment.
EFTPS is a free
service from Treasury. EFTPS is an accurate, secure and convenient
way to pay all federal tax payments – including corporate, excise
and employment taxes and 1040 quarterly estimated taxes via the
Internet or a telephone voice response system.
About Simplify
Simplify is Treasury's national public information campaign
designed to encourage tax preparers and small businesses to pay
federal taxes electronically through the Electronic Federal Tax
Payment System (EFTPS). EFTPS is a free service from Treasury that
allows tax preparers, small businesses and individuals to pay all
federal taxes electronically. For more information, visit the
Simplify Web site at http://www.simplifyeftps.org.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington
Financial Management Service Melanie Rigney 202-874-6763 or Internal Revenue Service 202-622-4000 |
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