# Difficulty paying the IRS from the UK.



## JKTMBA (9 mo ago)

I can't get the money to them! I'm in the UK. I have been here several years, but this is the first time I've owed them anything.

Direct Pay can't find me from my previous returns. This is troubling.

EFTPS requires a US bank account, which I don't have. My UK bank couldn't give me a routing number from an associated US bank.

My UK bank won't do a wire transfer or a bank check/cheque.

I can't write a normal check because it's in a different currency.

The amount is over my debit card and credit card limits.

Have I missed something? Has anyone run into this before?


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## JustLurking (Mar 25, 2015)

Been there (in fact, _still_ there), done that, got the t-shirt. It's a total mystery why the IRS demands money, but then makes it borderline impossible to send it to them. The IRS makes HMRC look like a model of efficiency and customer convenience.

A few ideas below, anyway.


JKTMBA said:


> Direct Pay can't find me from my previous returns. This is troubling.


Do you file a 1040, or a 1040-NR?

It seems that Direct Pay is not set up for 1040-NR filers at all. I am one, and it refused to work for me no matter how many old returns I tried. It apparently only works if you file a resident 1040. I doubt there's any real technical reason for this; my guess is that it is simply that whoever programmed this at the IRS had no concept that other countries exist.



JKTMBA said:


> EFTPS requires a US bank account, which I don't have. My UK bank couldn't give me a routing number from an associated US bank.


Take a look at Wise (formerly Transferwise). You ought to be able to open a 'borderless' account with them that will give you both a UK facet (GBP, sort code, account number) and a US facet (USD, routing number, account number). The US facet is a full US bank account, and meaning that it should operate reasonably well with EFTPS.

My own problem with EFTPS specifically is that they have never, _ever_ sent the PIN code I need for online access, despite requesting it four times over more than three years. Oh, they say they will send it FedEx, but mysteriously they never do. It turns out that you can make a payment without the PIN if you telephone them, though. A bit insecure perhaps, but I've had it work exactly once.



JKTMBA said:


> My UK bank won't do a wire transfer or a bank check/cheque.


Odd, but ... shrug.



JKTMBA said:


> I can't write a normal check because it's in a different currency.


Expected.



JKTMBA said:


> The amount is over my debit card and credit card limits.


A substantial amount? If so, that might run into limits in Wise also, though multiple payments over a period could work round that (beware though that the IRS limits the number of payments you can make through some channels, because ... well, who knows why, perhaps just to annoy).

If you have a Wise account, you can also get them to issue a debit card on that account. Not sure of the limits on that, or if you would hit them, but maybe worth a look.

All very, _very_ frustrating though, isn't it?


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## JKTMBA (9 mo ago)

So very frustrating! I had a sigh of relief when I finally waded through all the forms and numbers, only to be thwarted at the last hurdle. I hadn't heard of Wise, so I'll go and have a look. I would love to not have this hanging over me. Thanks very much for your tips!


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## Nbaid716 (5 mo ago)

Hi everyone. If you're sending a large amount (which it sounds like you are) from the UK to the US, you should look for providers which offer low fixed fees per transaction, rather than a variable pricing model, and as close to the mid-market exchange rate as possible. The providers that are reasonable for the first £1,000 tend to get pretty expensive beyond that.


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## Nivie (Apr 22, 2021)

I opened a foreign currency account in $ at my local HSBC account. I often use it to wire money back and forth although not had the need to wire anything to the IRS but may need to in the future.


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