Providing receipts (or proof of payments) for your quarterly tax payments is key to good record keeping and solving any potential inconsistencies with the IRS. Payment receipts can come in a few different forms because the IRS doesn't issue a formal receipt when they've successfully processed your payments.
This guide will show you a few ways to find your past proof of payments for your quarterly tax payments.
1. Your Online Account
If you have an online account, you'll have an easy time of seeing your record of payments.
- Login to your account.
- Under Payments, select View Payment Activity.
3. Next, select Processed Payments.
You'll see a list of your payments that the IRS has processed. As you'll notice, there isn't a way to download this list. Instead, you can screenshot the payments you're looking to have receipts for.
2. Direct Pay Payment Lookup
If you payed your quarterly taxes with Direct Pay (a free IRS service that lets taxpayers make tax payments online directly from their bank account to the IRS), you can lookup your previous payments.
A quick note: you can only look up one payment at a time.
Here's how to do it:
1. Visit the IRS Direct Pay Payment Lookup.
2. Enter the specific payment's confirmation number. You can find this in the automatic email the IRS sent you, confirming your payment submission. The subject line will say something along the lines of "IRS Direct Pay Confirmation of Scheduled Transaction."
3. Enter your social security number or your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number and select Look Up Payment.
Once you've inputted those numbers, a record of your payment, including its status, will appear if the numbers are correct. (If you get an error message, there's a chance you may have made the payment via your online account, which is different than Direct Pay).
The page will look like this (only with all of the details filled in).
4. Screenshot the payment record and indicate what quarter it was for.
3. Your Bank Statement
If you're struggling to find payment receipts from the above methods, you can always find proof in your bank statements. This may be a little more tedious, but if your payments were successfully processed by the IRS, you'll find the statement around the time you made the initial payment.
This is from the IRS FAQs:
- "IRS USA Tax Payment," "IRS USA Tax Pymt" or something similar will be shown on your bank statement as proof of payment.
- If the payment date requested is a weekend or bank holiday, the payment will be withdrawn on the next business day.
Once you've identified the correct statement, you can screenshot it for your records (but be sure to cover up any sensitive banking information). Please include what quarter and tax year the payment was for.
Tips:
- Most issues with estimated tax payments are due to including a payment in the incorrect tax year or overstating payments that were never made. Please be sure to take screenshots that include the tax year and quarter the payment is for.
- You can make multiple quarterly tax payments in any quarter. If you make multiple, be sure to include all the payments made!