I have money; how do I get the IRS to take it?

Post date: 2019-04-13 04:50:37

2018 was my first year as a consultant with an EIN. I filed an extension on my taxes but need to make a payment by April 15 to avoid penalties. I need to find a way to get the IRS to take my money, and literally every route leads me to a brick wall. Help! More details inside.

I have an appointment with an accountant for May 1, who has filed an extension for me. I literally had no idea that quarterlies were mandatory, not optional (whoops!) so I need to hand the IRS money for last year's taxes by April 15 to avoid a penalty.

I don't know what the penalty is, but I'm imagining that if I give them money after April 15 it will be something like double what I would owe if I pay by April 15. I can cover that but I'd much rather pay them beforehand and save thousands of dollars in penalties. If I'm wildly overestimating the penalty and it will be something like 10% of what I currently owe rather than 100%-1000%, I would love to know that because in that case I'll just hold out til May 1. I've looked on the IRS website but nothing about the late payment penalties makes sense to me (maybe because I'm too stressed to be able to process it at this point).

I really, really need to go through an accountant because I have an issue with what state I am technically a resident of. My sole proprietorship is in one state, my drivers license is in another, and I've spent most of the past 16 months out of the country.

The EFTPS website says "if you started your business less than a year ago, we already have a PIN for you, call us." I called them and they don't have a PIN for me. I've filled out the paperwork. However, that PIN will not come through until after April 15.

The IRS will send you vouchers to pay...if you've previously paid electronically through EFTPS. Which I haven't, because I don't have a PIN.

I also can't make an EFTPS payment by phone because you have to have the PIN to do so.

I could make an estimated tax payment through my SSN, but I'm worried that will screw things up for me with regards to taxes, my business, etcetera.

I did some work with tax software to figure out what my estimated payment should be. At this point I feel like my only option to avoid a penalty will be to file my taxes electronically through that software and then get the accountant to amend my taxes.

I have messaged my accountant for advice but obviously he is completely under the gun right now and I don't expect an answer. Therefore I am hoping that the fine people of Metafilter can help.

tl;dr: How do I get the IRS to take my money in a way that is associated with my EIN when I have no PIN and no vouchers?

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