An IRS rule effective Oct. 19 permits the agency to accept federal tax payments directly by credit or debit card without connecting taxpayers to a third-party processor.
The change concerns how people may pay federal taxes; the Federal Register filing establishes the rule's effective date and legal authority, not the launch of a new payment screen.
From the source record
The final regulations reflect changes to the law made by the Taxpayer First Act that would allow the IRS to directly accept payments of tax by credit or debit card, without having to connect taxpayers to third-party payment processors.Federal Register ↗
Comal County taxpayers are covered by that federal payment rule, but the filing does not establish that a direct IRS card checkout is available to them yet. Anyone planning a card payment should distinguish the agency's new authority from a payment option they can actually select.
The final regulations also remove restrictions on fees the IRS may pay under card-payment contracts and on fees or charges it may impose on people paying taxes by card. The filing does not set out a fee that an individual Comal County taxpayer will pay for a future direct transaction.
The next useful check is an IRS payment announcement or updated payment instructions showing whether direct acceptance has begun and what it costs. Readers can inspect the rule's effective date and its description of the fee provisions in the Federal Register record.