Taxpayers who owe state income taxes to the state of Michigan should make payments online directly to the Michigan Department of Treasury.
Recently, the state Treasury Department has noticed an increase in the use of third-party bill payment services to pay outstanding state tax bills. These providers typically accept credit card payments online and then send a check to the state through the U.S. Postal Service.
The state Treasury Department is concerned because a taxpayer's personal information could be compromised. Using these providers can also delay the processing of a state income tax return due to the extra time needed to identify the taxpayer and apply the amount paid to a related outstanding tax bill.
"Taxpayers need to be vigilant when using the services of third-party payment providers," said Deputy State Treasurer Glenn White, who oversees Treasury's Tax Administration programs. "If you owe, please go to our website to pay your outstanding tax bill. We don't want taxpayers to become a victim of identity theft or face penalties and interest due to an unauthorized service routing a payment incorrectly."
The state Treasury Department recommends that taxpayers pay their outstanding tax bills on www.michigan.gov/incometax. Payments made through the state of Michigan's website are authenticated to ensure payments are made to a taxpayer's account.
The fees charged on the state of Michigan's payment website are comparable to third-party bill-paying providers.
In addition, payments made through www.michigan.gov/ incometax are Payment Card Industry (PCI) and National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) compliant to help guard taxpayer security. Third-party bill payment providers do not have a contractual relationship with the state Treasury Department, so personal information, payment amount and credit card numbers aren't verified to be secure.
To learn more about Michigan's income tax, go to www. michigan.gov/incometax or follow the state Treasury Department on Twitter at @MITreausry.
Published: Wed, Feb 26, 2020
