Making Deferred Social Security payments for Self-employed individuals

[JimS_1]

The IRS came out with guidance last month on making Deferred Social Security tax payments.  They mention making payments via EFTPS, which seems the easiest (only?) route.  I tried doing this so that I can provide guidance to my clients as well as screenshots.  One thing I noticed is that when you select the Tax Period, I used December 2020 (which seemed logical since the guidance says you need to apply to 2020), and I got an error that says it's an invalid period.  According to EFTPS, the only valid periods for deferred SS tax payments are March 2020 to November 2020.  Seems odd that they give individuals 9 different months to select.  I was planning to tell my clients to use November 2020.  I can't imagine it matters which month they select between March & November. 

Curious if anyone else has encountered this and how they are advising clients.

[rbynaker]

Interesting, I'm seeing the same behavior that you are.  Dec 2020 is not valid but Mar or Nov are fine.  <shrug>  I don't think it matters as long as it's in the 2020 tax year.  I went back to the IRS announcement and there's no indication of what month to select, just the year.  Maybe wait a few more months and see if additional guidance is issued.  Have letters been sent out to folks who deferred?  Maybe there will be additional information there. <shrug>

For reference, this is where I looked:

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/how-self-employed-individuals-and-household-employers-repay-deferred-so...

You might try calling EFTPS Customer Service at 1-800 555-8778.

[JimS_1]

Thanks

I did call EFTPS and they gave me the "March to Nov" months that work with Def SS pmts, but no explanation.  The individual I spoke with basically read off the FAQ at the top of this link: Welcome To EFTPS - Help and Information

I don't think any letters have been sent from IRS to Self Employed folks who deferred, nor do I think they will.  The link you provided says "If the installment amount is not paid in full, IRS will send the taxpayer a balance due notice.", so I assume that will be sent AFTER Dec 31, 2021 and probably include some penalty, so I want to be sure clients pay prior to Dec 31.  

Thanks!