Did Your Estimated Payment End Up in the Bay?

There are traffic accidents and then there are traffic accidents. A courier transporting approximately 30,000 1040-ES payments lost his load on the San Mateo Bridge…and the payments fell into the San Francisco Bay. The accident occurred on September 11th and could impact any taxpayer mailing payments to the IRS’ San Francisco lockbox.

If you mail payments to PO Box 510000 in San Francisco and it could have been received on or about September 11th, then check your next bank statement to see if your payment clears. If it does, then you have nothing to worry about. If it doesn’t, then you may need to send in a replacement payment. If you’re one of our clients, contact us if you’re one of the unlucky taxpayers whose payments are now sleeping with the fishes.

This is why we strongly urge using certified mail, return receipt requested (and electronic filing/payments) for all correspondance sent to any tax agency. This puts the onus on the government, not you, regarding receipt of your payment. If your payment ended up in the bay and you have your mailing receipt and return receipt, you may have to go through a minor hassle with a second payment. But if you just mailed in your payment and it’s lost, good luck with your fight with the IRS.

Hat tips: Roth Tax Updates, TaxProf Blog