Using Web Pay is safe and simple, but remember to verify payment December 2020 Tax News

Using Web Pay is a safe and simple way to avoid problems and the extra work that comes when someone mails a payment to us and that payment isn’t timely credited to their account. Some reasons a payment may not be timely credited or applied include:

• Mail delays
• Incorrect or missing information on a check
  • Tax year
  • Tax ID number
• Human error

When scheduling a payment make sure you include the correct bank information. If not, we will be unable to process the payment. By the time we send a notice, your clients could accrue substantial penalties and interest.

Our Web Pay Confirmation is just confirmation that we have received a request to process your payment and not confirmation of successful payment.

The failure to timely remit the balance due on a tax liability caused by an oversight does not, by itself, constitute reasonable cause. It is important to remember it is not sufficient to just attempt to use Web Pay to make a payment; exercise of ordinary business care and prudence is still needed.

The Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) held in a 2018 precedential case that reasonably prudent businesspersons exercising due care and diligence are expected to monitor their bank account and quickly determine whether a scheduled electronic payment to FTB was in fact paid. (Visit Appeal of Scanlon, 2018-OTA-075P, July 25, 2018.)

Visit our April Tax News article, Tips for using Pay by bank account (Web Pay) for businesses, for more information.