WASHINGTON (CBS News/CBSLA) — Online payments on IRS.gov appear to be working again this Tax Day after an hours-long outage.
A page on the IRS website that allows taxpayers to make a payment stopped working for many as of Tuesday morning. Clicking on "Make a payment" on the payments page redirected the user to a page titled "unplannedOutagePage."
The IRS' "Direct Pay" page redirects to this message on Tuesday morning.
"Note that your tax payment is due although IRS Direct Pay may not be available," the page noted.
Twitter was not happy about the development. "The IRS Direct Pay system is down on Tax Day. Oh, government, you fool," one user tweeted.
Acting Commissioner David Kautter acknowledged the issue Tuesday morning in a House Oversight Committee hearing. "We are working to resolve the issue and taxpayers should continue to file as they normally would," Kautter said.
April 17 is the deadline for Americans to pay any taxes owed to the U.S. Treasury this year. It's also the deadline for business owners and freelancers to pay their estimated taxes for the first quarter of 2018.
While Direct Pay isn't the only way to make a payment, it's one of the few that doesn't cost extra. Paying with a credit card through the IRS' site will cost around 2 percent of the payment amount, starting at $2.50.
For taxpayers who use software to file their returns, it's also possible to pay through the tax filing service itself. Tax preparers like TurboTax and H&R Block allow users to set up a link to their bank account to pay taxes due when they're finished filing. However, you'll have to pay to use the software, unless you earn less than $66,000 and take advantage of the Free File portal on the IRS' site.
Taxpayers who are expecting a refund can request a six-month extension to file, but any taxes owed are due by the end of Tuesday.
