<OT> Chuckles, you wrote:
"...2nd Qrtr Est Tax time = why mail it when you can pay online? (is free and you do not have to worry about the postal service screwing it up).
Check out the FAQ:
eftpssouth.com ..."
I would never do this. It may help someone here in the future to hear about what happened to a grrlfriend of mine. She had an elderly grandmother with whom she had a joint checking account so that she could look after Granny's bills. Granny had 'Direct Deposit' to the account of her USA Social Security payments. This involves a similar connection between the bank account and the gvmt entity. Granny died during the early days of April a few years ago. The SS Direct Deposit due April 1st had been made to her account before she died. My friend immediately paid all Granny's outstanding bills with checks from the account, and informed the appropriate people of Granny's death. She called Social Security to report Granny's death. Then, without telling my friend what they were going to do, the Social Security people immediately reached back into Granny's account and took back the April 1st payment. Many checks bounced. Much trouble for my friend followed straightening this out. The social security people said "It is true that Granny was owed the April payment because she died during the 1st week of April, but if Granny had died March 30th, the payment would not have been due. When we hear of a death but do not have solid confirmation of the exact date, we rescind payments which might not be due, then reinstate them later when the date of death is certain."
When you sign up for this kind of set-up, what you are doing is agreeing to allow the other party access to your bank account. They can make the decisions then as to what transactions should take place between your bank account and them. Not just the IRS but anyone. The bank can not do anything but comply with instructions from any entity you have this kind of agreement with. If you have such a set-up with your phone company to automaticly debit your account for payment due, and they make an error and mistakenly think you owe them $10,000 next month, they can take it out of your account and then you get the trouble that follows in fixing the problems that arise from it. If you're lucky they will just say "Oh. You're right. Here's the $$ back. Sorry." Your bounced checks and damaged credit will be your problem. If you're not so lucky you may have trouble convincing them they made a mistake.
---- When there is a disagreement about who owes who what, I like to have possession of the money while the fight plays out. I would never allow the IRS or the phone company or anyone this kind of access to my accounts. It is quite easy to use an on-line bill-pay system in which YOU decide what money should be send to whom and when. This is very different from the set-up you advocate with the IRS. I use ACH links and like them, but only between my own accounts at different institutions.
regards,
Keep-your-grubby-mitts-outa-my-accounts-diana |
