# How to pay IRS from foreign account?



## Cousin Jack (Feb 6, 2016)

Hi, I do not have access to a US bank account. 
Can I pay my IRS tax using my UK Barclays sterling account Visa Debit card? 
Any other options?

Thanks


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

These are your payment options: Payments | Internal Revenue Service and unless you have a US bank account to make a direct payment via ACH, none of the payment methods is free of charge.

If you want to pay using your UK Barclays card you should be able to, but you'll need to go through one of the three services listed for credit/debit cards. Not sure if they will consider a foreign debit card as a debit card or a credit card - but your bank may have its own fees for the exchange fees and use for an overseas transaction.


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## Cousin Jack (Feb 6, 2016)

Bevdeforges said:


> These are your payment options: Payments | Internal Revenue Service and unless you have a US bank account to make a direct payment via ACH, none of the payment methods is free of charge.
> 
> If you want to pay using your UK Barclays card you should be able to, but you'll need to go through one of the three services listed for credit/debit cards. Not sure if they will consider a foreign debit card as a debit card or a credit card - but your bank may have its own fees for the exchange fees and use for an overseas transaction.


Thanks. I was not sure.


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## JustLurking (Mar 25, 2015)

Cousin Jack said:


> Thanks. I was not sure.


If you succeed with this, could you please post your experience back here?

I have a similar problem. Looking at the IRS debit/credit card payment services, it seems like they use the 'Billing Zip Code' or similar to confirm the card use, and (of course) a non-US card won't have one. I also emailed each of them to ask directly whether my non-US cards would work with their systems, and received no reply from any. This doesn't give me a lot of confidence that I'd have any way to unravel things with them, should I somehow manage to get a payment into their systems which then runs into problems.

It's surprising just how difficult the IRS makes it to pay them from abroad, isn't it?


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## Cousin Jack (Feb 6, 2016)

JustLurking said:


> If you succeed with this, could you please post your experience back here?
> 
> I have a similar problem. Looking at the IRS debit/credit card payment services, it seems like they use the 'Billing Zip Code' or similar to confirm the card use, and (of course) a non-US card won't have one. I also emailed each of them to ask directly whether my non-US cards would work with their systems, and received no reply from any. This doesn't give me a lot of confidence that I'd have any way to unravel things with them, should I somehow manage to get a payment into their systems which then runs into problems.
> 
> It's surprising just how difficult the IRS makes it pay them from abroad, isn't it?


I will report back next year although you mention, should it go wrong it could be difficult to unravel, not sure I want to take that risk. I see they accept a same day bank transfer but must be received and accepted before 5pm ET, if late then it will be returned to bank. I am not sure my bank would be able to immediately wire and IRS receive it the same day as it usually takes a day or two to clear funds. Maybe opening a foreign $ currency account with my UK bank could speed up the transaction.

I am uncomfortable making foreign bank transfers as I once sent a chunk of money to my US bank from my UK bank and it got lost in the system for 6 weeks, only to reappear back in my UK account!

Shame PayPal is not an option!


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Just note that, in the instructions for a same day bank transfer, they are talking about the US ACH system (I think) since it uses the US "routing number" things. On the instructions for that there is a link to click for foreign electronic payments that takes you to this page: Foreign Electronic Payments | Internal Revenue Service. (You may already have seen this - but for the lurkers out there.) 

As they say, foreign bank wires can be expensive. As said above, they really don't make it easy to actually pay your taxes from overseas.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

> As said above, they really don't make it easy to actually pay your taxes from overseas.


It's almost makes one think that the IRS doesn't really care that much if someone living abroad does or doesn't file a tax return or pay a tax bill, wouldn't you say?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Nononymous said:


> It's almost makes one think that the IRS doesn't really care that much if someone living abroad does or doesn't file a tax return or pay a tax bill, wouldn't you say?


It can depend a bit on your "exposure" (i.e. if you have financial assets in the US) and your plans going forward (like if you intend to move back to the US at some point). But basically yes.


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## Jca1 (Aug 7, 2019)

Can you pay via ACH from a TransferWise account with a US routing and account number?


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## Moulard (Feb 3, 2017)

Jca1 said:


> Can you pay via ACH from a TransferWise account with a US routing and account number?


If it looks and smells like a US account, I can see no reason why Direct Payment would not be supported unless there is something about the routing number which flags it as a non-US account.






Direct Pay | Internal Revenue Service


Use Direct Pay to securely pay Form 1040 series, estimated or other individual taxes directly from your checking or savings account at no cost.




www.irs.gov





Not something I have ever done mind you...


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## JustLurking (Mar 25, 2015)

Moulard said:


> If it looks and smells like a US account, I can see no reason why Direct Payment would not be supported unless there is something about the routing number which flags it as a non-US account.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This might work for US persons, but I can confirm from direct experience that IRS Direct Pay does not work for 1040-*NR* tax return filers. It fails at the point of verifying identity, because it does not support this type of tax return.

Of course, the system doesn't actually _say_ this. It simply fails to verify you when you try it, suggesting you use a different year's return. You have to work out by experimentation that it's not programmed with any 1040-NR in mind. To add insult to injury, the 1040-NR instructions explicitly point users to IRS Direct Pay as a "convenient" way to pay US tax.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Jca1 said:


> Can you pay via ACH from a TransferWise account with a US routing and account number?


Those accounts definitely work to receive money from the US government. There were multiple reports this spring of people living abroad filing to receive the stimulus benefit and having it paid directly into Transferwise. 

So presumably it would work in the other direction too.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Nononymous said:


> Those accounts definitely work to receive money from the US government. There were multiple reports this spring of people living abroad filing to receive the stimulus benefit and having it paid directly into Transferwise.
> 
> So presumably it would work in the other direction too.


Maybe. But my sense is that at the moment at least, to make a payment out of a Transferwise Borderless account, you're expected to use the debit card. The ACH payment info is to allow people to make payments into your account. But check the help files over on the Transferwise site. I may be misreading something there.


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