Are you making a payment with your federal tax return this year? If so, here are 10 important things the IRS wants you to know about correctly paying your federal income taxes.

1. Never send cash.

2. If you file electronically, you can file and pay in a single step with an electronic funds withdrawal. If you e-file by yourself you can use your tax preparation software to make the withdrawal. If you use a tax preparer to e-file, you can ask the preparer to make your tax payment electronically.

3. Whether you file a paper return or e-file your return, you can pay by phone or online with a credit or debit card. The company that processes your payment will charge a processing fee.

4. If you file Schedule A, Itemized Deductions, you may be able to deduct the credit or debit card processing fee on next year’s return. This is a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the 2 percent limit.

5. Electronic payment options provide another way to pay taxes by check or money order. You can make payments 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Visit IRS.gov and click on the ‘Payments’ tab near the top left of the home page for more details.

6. If you pay by check or money order, make sure it is payable to the “United States Treasury.”

7. Be sure to write your name, address and daytime phone number on the front of your payment. Also, write the tax year, form number you are filing and the first Social Security number listed on your tax return.

8. Complete Form 1040-V, Payment Voucher, and include it with your tax return and payment when mailing it to the IRS. Double-check the IRS mailing address. This will help the IRS process your payment accurately and efficiently. Go to IRS.gov to download and print this form.

9. Remember to enclose your payment with your return but do not staple it to any tax form.

10. For more information, call 800-829-4477 and select TeleTax Topic 158, Ensuring Proper Credit of Payments. You can also find out more in the Form 1040-V instructions available at IRS.gov.
Additional IRS Resources:

• IRS Free File
• E-file Options
• Electronic Payment Options Home Page
• Payments (payment options)
• Form 1040-V, Payment Voucher
• Tax Topic 158 – Ensuring Proper Credit of Payments

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced that its Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) obtained the disbarment of Certified Public Accountant Anthony A. Tiongson for charging unconscionable fees, giving irresponsible advice to clients and making false statements to federal and state authorities, among other things.

Tiongson is prohibited from preparing tax returns or representing taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service for a minimum of five years. Tiongson practiced in California.

“Practitioners who abuse the trust of their clients by charging unconscionable fees for taking frivolous positions on their tax returns can expect to hear from my office in the IRS,” said Karen L. Hawkins, director of OPR

In a Final Agency Decision, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) disbarred Tiongson on March 1. The ALJ found that Tiongson’s advice to clients to use Form 2555 to treat California earned income as foreign source income on at least fifty-two tax returns, constituted disreputable conduct under Circular 230, and his failure to research the legitimacy of the filing position specifically violated the Circular’s due diligence standards.

The ALJ also found Circular 230 violations in Tiongson’s use of a contingent fee structure and in the false statement to IRS Criminal Investigation regarding his fee structure. He was also found to have made false claims to the California Board of Accountancy that he ceased advising use of Form 2555 after becoming aware of the first IRS examination of his clients’ returns.

The ALJ also found that Tiongson violated Circular 230 by engaging in a pattern of delaying IRS examination and collection actions by repeatedly raising numerous frivolous arguments, long-rejected by the IRS and by case law. Tiongson’s litigation threats against IRS employees, as part of client settlement proposals, were also determined to be violations.

“The mere possession of a professional license does not give a practitioner the right to make his or her own rules, or to threaten IRS personnel doing their jobs,” Hawkins said.

The ALJ found other violations of Circular 230 including: Tiongson did not respond to OPR requests for information and he submitted a Form 2848, Power of Attorney, naming an unlicensed individual as a second “authorized” representative in a collection matter thereby aiding an ineligible person to practice before the IRS.

Although the Decision was entered as a default judgment, Tiongson was represented by counsel during the proceedings. The text of the ALJ Decision can be found on IRS.gov.