Electronic Payments Mandated

[Lee B]

"The federal government will stop issuing paper checks for disbursements, effective Sept. 30, and will stop accepting them for payments “as soon as practicable.

At that time, the federal government will switch to electronic payments, as mandated by an executive order signed Tuesday (March 25) by President Donald Trump."

Another stress point for our elderly clients

[Randall]

I've had a few clients who want to pay electronically.  Got a call yesterday.  A client filed Fed and both Ohio and Ky.  Owed all three.  The e-payments went thru for Fed and Ohio.  But not Ky.  I don't know why.  I told him to give it a little more time, keep checking.  I'm not sure how to follow this up.  Of course, this is a state, not the Fed.  But we'll see what we'll see.

[kathyc2]

Soooo many things I could say about this.....

[Gail in Virginia]

SO what do people who do not have checking accounts do?

 

[mcb39]

15 minutes ago, Gail in Virginia said:

SO what do people who do not have checking accounts do?

 

They can be deposited into a Savings Account.  However, I know that I will have several irate clients who simply do not trust the electronic process.  I am just so happy when I can talk someone into doing electronic estimates, but they are rare.  Isn't retirement looking better all the time; although that is not my desire.

[Patrick Michael]

I can already hear it from some of my elderly clients: "I don't want to give my bank information to the government." Then they mail the check, which has the bank information. Another reason this is looking more and more like my last year.  

[BTS]

Does Social Security even issue paper checks anymore ?  All of our older clients have it direct deposited anyway.  And with the state of the USPS, it seems a good move.  We have had so much stuff lost or damaged by the postal service.

 

[BrewOne]

BTS:  Social Security already moved to all electronic (not sure what they do for the 'unbanked').

I have an elderly clientele but moved my last "I want to see and hold the check" client to direct deposit this year.

[Lee B]

3 hours ago, BTS said:

Does Social Security even issue paper checks anymore ?  All of our older clients have it direct deposited anyway.  And with the state of the USPS, it seems a good move.  We have had so much stuff lost or damaged by the postal service.

 

Yes SSA still issues checks. Even though it's less 1 % of the monthly SS benefits paid, the SSA still issued and mailed 455,000 checks this month.

I am more concerned about elderly clients who believe the only way to make their estimated payments is via check.

[Lee B]

4 hours ago, Gail in Virginia said:

SO what do people who do not have checking accounts do?

 

"The order includes language allowing for "limited exceptions," including for people without bank accounts."

[BTS]

I would think the government would still accept payments via checks for a long time to come.  Just payments going out from the government is an easy fix.  On another note, we quit accepting client checks for our fees in 2020 during covid.  We had so many bounced checks it was crazy.  Plus the time saved going to the bank to deposit weekly was a pain.  

[Max W]

5 hours ago, Gail in Virginia said:

SO what do people who do not have checking accounts do?

 

They can pay at a 7 Eleven after registering on line.  A bar code will be sent by email, or directly to a smart phone.  Payment can be made by credit/debit card,  cash, or click to pay.

[Lee B]

28 minutes ago, BTS said:

I would think the government would still accept payments via checks for a long time to come. 

"All payments made to the federal government should be processed electronically “as soon as practicable,” per the order. "

[Abby Normal]

4 hours ago, Patrick Michael said:

I can already hear it from some of my elderly clients: "I don't want to give my bank information to the government." Then they mail the check, which has the bank information. Another reason this is looking more and more like my last year.  

What I recommend doing is have a free checking account for all electronic payments, keeping the bare minimum that the bank requires in that account. Then just transfer money to that account to cover payments, and when a deposit is received, transfer it out to your normal account.

[joanmcq]

I have a not so old couple (in their 40's), very high earners, who pay by check.  I don't know if this means anything, but one of them works for Google and the other as IT for another tech company.

[kathyc2]

A lot of people aren't comfortable doing electronic transactions.  I've had several instances when they try to make estimated online and apply it to an incorrect period.  If they want to advertise and encourage it, fine.  If they want to mandate it, they aren't thinking through the consequences or letting people decide what is best for their personal situation.

[BrewOne]

I've moved a lot of my clients to direct debit this year--I think it helped when I told them that is how I pay.  But Tallahassee has had an epidemic of stolen checks, those who've experienced dealing with that are willing to try something different.

[BTS]

14 hours ago, BrewOne said:

I've moved a lot of my clients to direct debit this year--I think it helped when I told them that is how I pay.  But Tallahassee has had an epidemic of stolen checks, those who've experienced dealing with that are willing to try something different.

Yep.  Check Washing.  They steal checks out of envelopes.  Wash off the check but leave the signature and fill it out to themselves (well aliases). They say to use Jell Pens to make out checks.  The ink smears when they try to wash them.

[gfizer]

On 3/26/2025 at 5:12 AM, Randall said:

I've had a few clients who want to pay electronically.  Got a call yesterday.  A client filed Fed and both Ohio and Ky.  Owed all three.  The e-payments went thru for Fed and Ohio.  But not Ky.  I don't know why.  I told him to give it a little more time, keep checking.  I'm not sure how to follow this up.  Of course, this is a state, not the Fed.  But we'll see what we'll see.

Kentucky is slower than molasses when it comes to debiting payments.  I encourage as many of my clients as possible to utilize direct debit for payments, mostly because my confidence is the postal service is declining rapidly.

[GLJEANNE]

I haven't freaked out my clients about this yet, waiting to see if it's just going to be another "look what I did" but won't actually become policy, or will get thrown out by a court, etc.  But if it stands, Oy - I still have a fair number of clients who prefer it.  I've tried over the years to get every to Direct Deposit and Direct Debit, but some are dinosaurs, even if they're too young for that, lol. 
I'm betting it takes a lot longer than Sept to fully implement, there are just too many people who can't handle paying online. 

[mcb39]

Believe it or not, I had a client come in today and tell me about it.  As she was writing the check to go with her voucher, she said, "This is the last check I will be able to write to the IRS!"  I was really surprised as we have only known for such a short time.

[BulldogTom]

I don't care about the IRS paying me via DD, they do it already.   What I don't want is those stupid ba$ta3ds to require me to get an ID.me account to pay them.   I don't understand how a nation as advanced as ours has a government that knows when a russian spy sneezes and can't id me without the help of a private company.

Tom
Longview, TX

[Abby Normal]

Piratization

[Corduroy Frog]

This could drift into political expressions about the current administration, which won't be allowed here.  But I would expect much of such as this to be rescinded when it hits the fan.  Tennessee required all tax payments and unemployment taxes to be electronic 7-8 years ago.  But they still accept checks and dare not penalize the issuer.  They need and love any kind of money like a pig after slop.

[Randall]

I'm guilty.  I still write and mail checks.  I've thought for some time this may be coming and I would be forced to do everything electronically.  I'll do it and clients will have to do it.  But what I won't do is do it for the clients.  They will have to do it themselves online.  I have a few clients who pay their tax payments on line.  I remind them to get confimation before they log off and print the confirmations for themselves and me.