Washington — The Internal Revenue Service announced the successful start of its new web-based system — IRS Direct Pay — on IRS.gov, which lets taxpayers pay their tax bills or make estimated tax payments directly from checking or savings accounts without any fees or pre-registration.

“IRS Direct Pay reflects our latest effort to add more online tools to provide additional service options to help taxpayers,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “IRS Direct Pay simplifies the payment process, and taxpayers can make a payment from the convenience of a home computer.”

To date, more than 150,000 taxpayers have paid more than $340 million in taxes through the new IRS Direct Pay system. With IRS Direct Pay, taxpayers receive instant confirmation that the payment has been submitted, and the system is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Bank account information is not retained in IRS systems after payments are made.

From the “Pay Your Tax Bill” icon at the top of the IRS home page, taxpayers can access IRS Direct Pay, which walks the taxpayer through five simple steps. The steps include providing your tax information, verifying your identity, entering your payment information, reviewing and electronically signing and recording your online confirmation.

IRS Direct Pay offers 30-day advance payment scheduling, payment rescheduling or cancellations, and a payment status search. Future plans include an option for e-mailed payment confirmation, a Spanish version and one-time registration with a login and password to allow quick access on return visits.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service will begin a one-year pilot program in June to help small businesses with retirement plans that owe penalties for not filing reporting documents. By filing current and prior year forms during this pilot program, they can avoid penalties.

The IRS is reaching out to certain small businesses that maintain retirement plans and may have been unaware that they had a filing requirement. The IRS projects that this program will bring a significant number of small business owners into compliance with the reporting requirements.

Plan administrators and sponsors who do not file an annual Form 5500 series return can face stiff penalties — up to $15,000 per return. Those who have already been assessed a penalty for late filings are not eligible for this program. This program is open only to retirement plans generally maintained by certain small businesses, such as those in an owner-spouse arrangement or eligible partnership.

Multiple late retirement plan returns may be included in a single submission. If a retirement plan has delinquent returns for more than one plan year, penalty relief may be available for all of these returns. Similarly, delinquent returns for more than one plan may be included in a single penalty relief request. No filing fee will be charged during the pilot program.

More information on how to participate in the program can be found in Revenue Procedure 2014-32.