IRS Idea to Simplify Tax Payments: Charge It

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is proposing the use of credit cards to simplify the process of paying annual income taxes, IRS Commissioner Lawrence Gibbs said Friday.

The IRS proposal, under consideration at the Treasury Department, would allow taxpayers to charge their tax bills much as they charge merchandise.

“We would charge your credit card account and then you would pay your credit card company,” Gibbs said on NBC-TV’s “Today” show.

For people who file quarterly estimated tax returns, Gibbs said, the credit card system also could be used.

“The details are presently still being worked out, but we would hope that we could eventually get to the point where you could use your credit card number simply to pay your estimated tax payments,” he said.

Gibbs did not elaborate on the proposal.

He also said he hopes that the tax overhaul law going into effect this year will not be revamped soon, to “give people a chance to get used to this new law.”

He said he agrees with his “boss,” Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III. “He has said that he really hopes that we’ll cool it for awhile after this act. I think any time you have change in the tax laws, you’re going to have confusion, and confusion is going to be considered complexity,” Gibbs said.