Working With a Representative
Never Pay the IRS Through Your Representative
By Darrin T. Mish, Attorney · 5 min read · October 9, 2026
The short answer
Tax payments go to the U.S. Treasury, through IRS channels you control. Circular 230 bars practitioners from negotiating your government checks or steering them into accounts they control, and treats failing to remit client tax money as disreputable conduct. Keep fees and tax payments separate.
This is one of the simplest rules in the guide, and one of the most important. Pay your representative for their work. Pay the IRS yourself, directly, through official IRS channels.
It sounds obvious. Yet I still meet people who handed a firm money "for the IRS" and later discovered it never got there. Here is why the rule exists and how to follow it.
Where IRS payments are supposed to go
The IRS's fact sheet on impersonation says the IRS instructs taxpayers to make payments to the "United States Treasury" and points to irs.gov/payments for the approved methods. The IRS's check payment page says checks, money orders, or cashier's checks should be payable to "U.S. Treasury," with your name, address, phone number, tax form or notice number, tax year, and identifying number.
For individuals, the IRS's payments page describes paying from a bank account through your IRS online account or through IRS Direct Pay without signing in, and says businesses can use their Business Tax Account, Direct Pay, or EFTPS. Card and digital wallet options are also listed there.
Every one of those channels sends money from you to the Treasury, and every one leaves a confirmation you control.
What the rules say about representatives and your money
Circular 230 has two provisions aimed squarely at this risk.
- Section 10.31: a practitioner may not endorse or otherwise negotiate any check issued to a client by the government for a federal tax liability, including by directing or accepting payment by any means into an account owned or controlled by the practitioner or any firm or entity the practitioner is associated with.
- Section 10.51(a)(8): misappropriating, or failing properly or promptly to remit, funds received from a client for the purpose of paying taxes or other obligations due the United States is disreputable conduct that can lead to sanctions.
The Form 2848 instructions say the same thing about refund checks: a power of attorney does not authorize the representative to negotiate checks issued by the government for a federal tax liability.
The IRS's preparer complaint page lists related misconduct you can report, including a preparer who does not remit payment for taxes due, who fails to remit employment tax funds on a client's behalf, or who diverts a refund to an account that is not the client's.
Why direct payment protects you
Paying the IRS directly versus through a third party
| Issue | You pay the Treasury directly | You give money to a third party to pay |
|---|---|---|
| Proof of payment | IRS confirmation and your payment history | Only the third party's word until the IRS posts it |
| Speed | Posts through IRS systems | Depends on when, or whether, the third party sends it |
| Correct application | You designate the tax, year, and form | Depends on the third party's accuracy |
| If something goes wrong | Trace it with the IRS | A dispute with the third party first |
Your IRS online account shows up to five years of payment history, including estimated tax payments, according to the IRS. That is your proof. Use it.
How a good representative handles payments
A good representative tells you exactly what to pay, when, how much, and how to designate it, then lets you make the payment. They may walk you through Direct Pay on the phone. They will ask for the confirmation number for the file. They will not ask you to wire them the IRS's money.
The one area where money legitimately passes through a lawyer is advance fees and costs, which in Florida must be held in a trust account under Rule 5-1.1. Even then, I prefer clients pay IRS user fees and payments directly so there is never a question. See advance fees and trust accounts.
Red flags around payments
- "Send us your monthly IRS payment and we will forward it."
- "We need to hold your refund in our account until the case is done."
- "Put our account on your return for the direct deposit."
- "Pay by gift card or wire transfer to stop the levy today." The IRS says it does not demand payment that way.
- Any invoice that lumps fees and "IRS payments" into a single amount.
If you hear any of these, stop and verify. The impersonation chapter covers the overlap between bad representatives and outright scammers.
Payroll tax: a special warning for employers
Business owners face a version of this problem with payroll. The IRS's complaint page lists, among reportable misconduct, a preparer who does not remit employment tax funds to the IRS on behalf of a client for Forms 940, 941, 943, 944, or 945 in full or on time.
If someone else handles your payroll deposits, verify them yourself. The IRS says its Business Tax Account lets you view your balance due and payment history. Withheld payroll taxes are among the most serious debts a business can owe, and the payroll tax chapter explains why. Do not assume they were paid because someone said so.
Installment payments are no exception
The same rule applies to monthly installment agreement payments. Once a payment plan is in place, the IRS says your online account lets you view and revise payment plans and make or schedule payments directly from your bank account. There is no reason for your monthly IRS payment to pass through anyone else.
If a firm insists on collecting your monthly IRS payment along with its own fee, ask why, and ask for proof each month that the IRS payment posted. Better yet, pay the IRS yourself and pay the firm separately. The monthly fee chapter explains how to keep those two streams apart.
Refunds belong in your account
The same logic runs in reverse for refunds. Your refund should be deposited to an account in your own name or mailed to you. The IRS's complaint page lists, as misconduct, a preparer who diverts a refund to an account that is not the client's, and a preparer who gives the client a copy of the return showing direct deposit information that is not the client's.
Before you sign any return, read the direct deposit line. Make sure the routing and account numbers are yours. It takes ten seconds and prevents one of the most common preparer frauds the IRS describes.
Keep a simple payment log
Whenever you pay the IRS, write down the date, the amount, the method, the tax form, the tax year, and the confirmation number. Keep the confirmation email or a screenshot. Once a month, compare your log to the payment history in your IRS online account.
If something does not match, you will find out in weeks rather than years, and you will have the proof you need to fix it. Your representative will thank you too, because a clean payment record makes every negotiation easier.
What to tell a firm that asks
If a firm asks you to send it money for the IRS, you do not need to argue. Say that you will make IRS payments yourself through irs.gov and send them the confirmation. A legitimate firm will say that is fine. If the firm pushes back, insists, or says the IRS requires payments to go through them, you have learned what you needed to know.
If money you gave someone never reached the IRS
- Check your IRS online account payment history to confirm what posted.
- Gather your proof: receipts, bank records, and any communication showing the money was for the IRS.
- Demand an accounting from the person in writing.
- Report through the IRS preparer complaint process if a preparer was involved, and to the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility if a practitioner was involved. Report to the FTC and your state attorney general if it was a company.
- Deal with the IRS balance itself. The unpaid tax remains your responsibility while you pursue the person who took the money.
The reporting channels are laid out in how to report.