We’re past the April 15th deadline, which means many of you just paid balances due and first-quarter estimates. If you are still writing checks to make tax payments, there is a much better (and safer) alternative.

Both the IRS and the State of Alabama have excellent platforms for making payments electronically via bank draft. A process to verify your identity requires access to a previous tax return. Beyond that, you simply supply your bank account number and routing number—the same information you provide with a printed check. 

For a deeper dive, review our previous blog post on IRS and Alabama electronic payment options HERE.  

If you are still unconvinced and want to continue writing checks, we’d encourage you to mail via receipt or another method to track and verify delivery. This may be overkill for small payments but certainly not for more significant balances due or estimated tax payments. 

If there is an issue, it’s impossible to determine if it lies with the US Postal Service, IRS or State of Alabama. During COVID (and after), both the IRS and Alabama experienced significant delays in processing checks. Generally, rather than a delay, our experience has been the checks are lost and never clear. 

If it’s been two weeks or more since you mailed a check to the IRS and it has not cleared your account, there is likely an issue. 

The same applies to refunds; it’s much better to have refunds deposited directly into your bank account. Direct deposit usually shortens the wait, giving you a sense of reassurance and confidence in the process. You can set up direct deposit payments by supplying the requested bank information in our tax organizer or supplying a voided check. 

Contact your Dent Moses advisor if you have any questions.