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By Russell Kuehn, Tax Collection Division

November 30, 2009, is the last day for Federal Program Agencies (FPAs) to use FEDTAX II for federal tax deposits.

All FPAs that used FEDTAXII were pre-enrolled in the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), a free service of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Letters were mailed in late October.

To learn more about how to use EFTPS, FPAs can:

• Download a Quick Start Guide from: www.fedtaxii.com
• View frequently asked questions at www.fedtaxii.com or www.fms.treas.gov/fedtax/index.html.

During the past year, the Financial Management Service (FMS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have shared information about the transition in numerous user outreach calls, meetings, and conferences. Webinars were held in October and November when pre-enrollment letters were mailed. Information has also appeared on IRS, FMS, and FEDTAX II Web sites.

FPAs can complete the following tasks using EFTPS.gov:

• Electronically file 941 tax forms.
• Fill out and print 945 and CT-1 tax forms and mail the forms to the IRS.
• Make payments for 941, 945, CT-1, 720, and 1042 tax forms.

The calculations to complete the forms need to be done by the FPAs before payments are scheduled.

FPAs can make payments to settle the same day by meeting the 8:00 p.m. ET deadline or by scheduling payments up to 120 days in advance.

Existing FEDTAX II  information will not be available after the system is decommissioned. FPAs will need to save this data on another medium (paper, disk, etc.). The historical information may include enrollment information, payment activity, filing activity, and wage data. Once FPAs begin using EFTPS, they will be able to view up to sixteen months of filing and payment history. The history will include only filings and payments created in or submitted via EFTPS.

This transition is part of the larger FMS Collections and Cash Management Modernization strategy, which aims to reduce the number of systems and processes and eliminate duplication of data, applications, products, interfaces, and technologies.

EFTPS has a lengthy track record of success. Since its launch in 1996, the service has processed more than 900 million transactions totaling more than $20 trillion.

As agencies make the transition and beyond, they may call FEDTAX II (1-877-FED-TAX2) for assistance with payment and enrollment questions.

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