(RNN) – The online payment system for the Internal Revenue Service’s website IRS.gov is partially down, preventing last-minute filers from paying their taxes.
Users who are clicking on the “Direct Pay” button on the front of the website are getting an alert that the service is currently unavailable - on the day taxes are due - hours before the midnight deadline.
April 17 is also the deadline for business owners and freelancers to pay their first quarter taxes for 2018. The IRS will not punish people if their returns are late.
The Direct Pay option takes the money directly out of your bank account and is a free service. People filing through TurboTax, Intuit and H&R Block are also having trouble making payments.
Payment by credit or debit card is still available, but there are fees ranging between $2 and $3.95 for that option.
Acting Commissioner David Kautter told the House Oversight Committee Tuesday morning that they are working to fix the issue and taxpayers should still file their taxes as “they normally would.”
He didn't know how many people would be affected by the outage, but approximately 30 million people still need to file their returns.
The IRS has not issued a statement about the outage but did tweet out that you can file for a six-month extension if your taxes aren’t finished.
Haven’t filed your federal tax return? Do not panic! You can request a 6-month extension from #IRS. https://t.co/3byJqk9fiF pic.twitter.com/H2aenH5HRv
— IRS (@IRSnews) April 17, 2018
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