Posted on 03/30/2026 3:55:47 PM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
This thread is about EO 14247. I just got my tax returns back and I am told that all of my 2026 estimated taxes for Federal and State must be electronic. That is, they must be sucked out of an account by ACH transfer. No more mailing of checks. However, the government will graciously accept my mailed in check for what is due on the return itself.
I checked with CoPilot, and it said that EO 14247 of March 25, 2025 mandates that all payments to the Federal Government (including estimated taxes) must be electronic via a portal (IRS.Gov/Payments, I believe). Which, means the government gets direct access to my bank account, which I have to load up for the payment.
This is a real PITA for me. It's yet another account, another round of passwords and identifications, and the nagging worry about the security of government data protection.
I'm aware this is designed to make things more efficient for the government, but it makes things harder for me as I head toward 80.
Is anyone aware of this, and is there any group vehicle of complaint?
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Trust me...they already have your bank info.
How do you electrify a tax return?
E-File
A lot of companies I use BillPay for now refuse 3rd party electronic payments - either ACH out of your bank account or paper check from the bank (sorry! it was late! that’s $49! OR Thanks for the early payment! Now we get the interest instead of you!)
I researched this and this is a policy in progress, but it is being phased in and cannot over ride existing law.
The bottom line from my research with chatgpt:
EO 14247 does aim to make all federal payments electronic
❌ But it does NOT mean you are currently prohibited from mailing a check
⏳ Right now we are in a transition period, not a fully enforced electronic-only system
I suggest people make direct inquires to the various ai chat systems and ask questions that affect them, and they will likely get similar answers.
No need to hit the panic button yet.
I’m going to email my CPA right now and ask him what’s what. Seems to be some conflicting info in the various replies. When I delivered my tax doc for this year, he didn’t say anything about having to pay electronically, but I’ll be sure to post his response (but it may be tomorrow).
They already have my bank account info. That is how they send me my tax refund.
If they want your bank account info, they can get it whether you give it to them or not. And if they want to steal all of your money, they can do that too. Eventually they will do that.
But for now, it is too much trouble for them. They still need to pretend there is a rule of law to keep us from more substantial resistance than merely complaining. Besides, inflation steals our money much more efficiently and most people never figure out that the government is doing it.
Signing up for yet another %^##$ portal with yet another #$#$ password is my biggest objection to this executive order. And it is only a matter of time until that portal gets hacked, and all of those passwords/bank account numbers are sold on the "dark web".
I have already changed a credit card number after a vendor site was hacked and all their client cards were exposed. Some of my clients change credit cards three times per year for the same reason.
How?
They can just apply my tariff and side refunds to what I owe this year
That is how I do it as well. The main reason is to be absolutely sure the money is available to cover the payments.
I will switch over to the new government electronic system when it is absolutely required. I have been using my bank online bill payment system for years now without problems. I suppose the IRS payment system will work reasonably well - until it doesn't.
Film at eleven. Tomorrow's news yesterday.
You can still pay by check. They are phasing paying by check out, but checks are still accepted for now.
I’m sure it’s to prevent paper checks being stolen in the RAT-controlled states and cities.
Pardon my previous comment, I thought the article pertained to tax refunds and not tax payments.
Never heard of this change but i have used bank transfers for years for estimated taxes. We also use cards and transfers for most but not all bills. Much easier. But i do understand some people prefer checks and cash for paying bills for some reason.
Yes, actually electronic is probably safer these days.
We sent in our Federal quarterly via USPS. Virginia requires our quarterly estimated taxes electronically. We use a separate account for ACH withdrawals.
Bitcoin transactions are fully traceable through the blockchain. A bit too much work for private individuals or corporations, but fully within government capabilities. And every crypto exchange should be assumed compromised by one national government or another.
You are not going to find transaction privacy in cryptocurrency. Precious metals remain the only reliable method and there are limitations on how well that can work. Cash is a distant second for reliability but better suited for small transactions.
Set up separate specific account... Not hard to do.
Another thought. Maybe President Trump doesn’t trust the Postal Service.
With the logrithmeticly increasing computational power and falling digital storage prices, how long will bitcoin be hidden from private individuals or corporations?
If bitcoin and other digital currencies are so traceable, how is it they are so popular among criminal organizations.
Not being snarky. It could be many criminals simply have a misunderstanding of how digital currencies actually work.
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