Figures relate to tax year 2025 (US)
The return is finished and there is a figure to pay. This is where a surprising number of expats get stuck.
Paying the IRS is designed around American bank accounts, and most people who left years ago no longer have one.
There are routes that work from a British account. They are just not the ones the website puts first.
Key takeaways
- The free online methods need a US bank account.
- An international wire works from a British bank.
- Card payments work but carry a percentage fee.
- Cheques still work and are slow and risky.
- Interest runs from April whatever extension you hold.
- Always state the tax year and form on the payment.
- Pay before filing if the return is not ready.
- Keep the confirmation, because tracing a wire is tedious.
Why is paying the IRS hard from Britain?
Because the cheapest methods assume a domestic bank. According to IRS guidance on payment options, the direct debit service draws from a United States checking or savings account, which somebody who closed theirs cannot use. Everything else carries a cost or a delay.
Our guide to the IRS online account from the UK covers the portal.
The system suits people living there.
Paying the IRS without a US account
An international wire transfer is the main answer, and the IRS publishes instructions for exactly that. First your British bank sends dollars to a designated account, using a worksheet of details. So it is the route most expats end up taking.
Our guide to exchange rates on a US return covers the conversion.
Your bank will charge for the wire itself.
How does the wire actually work?
First you complete a worksheet of payment details. Then your bank sends the funds through the international system. The details include your tax number, the form, the year and the payment type, and if any of them is wrong the money goes astray.
Our guide to a tax transcript request covers checking it landed.
Keep the reference your bank gives you.
What each route costs
| Method | Needs a US account | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Direct debit from bank | Yes | Free |
| Electronic payment system | Yes | Free |
| International wire | No | Bank's wire fee |
| Debit card | No, usually | A flat fee |
| Credit card | No, usually | Around 2% of the payment |
| Cheque by post | Yes, a dollar cheque | Postage and risk |
Is paying the IRS by card sensible?
Yes, through the authorised processors, and foreign cards are often accepted. A debit card carries a small flat fee while a credit card costs a percentage, which on a five figure bill is real money. The fee goes to the processor rather than the IRS.
Our guide to an IRS payment plan from abroad covers spreading a bill.
Check your card's foreign transaction charge as well.
Is a dollar cheque still possible?
Technically yes, though we would not recommend it. It must be a dollar cheque drawn on an American bank. Meanwhile international post is slow and losable, and processing times stay unpredictable. In short, everything that can go wrong does.
Our guide to IRS letters after streamlined covers chasing things.
Write the year and form on the cheque if you must.
A worked example
Take an illustrative case. An American in Manchester owes several thousand dollars and closed her Boston account in 2019.
The free online options all ask for a routing number she does not have.
She sends an international wire from her British bank with the worksheet details completed.
The payment posts against the right year within a fortnight, and her bank's fee is a fraction of what a credit card would have cost.
When is the money due when paying the IRS?
April, regardless of any extension to file. An extension moves the return deadline and never the payment one, so interest and a late payment charge start running from April whatever paperwork you hold. This catches people every single year.
Our guide to Form 2350 extensions covers the longer extension.
The automatic June date is for filing, not for paying.
Can you pay before you file?
Yes, and you often should. Where the return will be late but the rough figure is known, paying an estimate in April stops the interest clock on that amount. You identify the year and the payment type so it sits waiting for the return.
Our guide to estimated tax payments from the UK covers quarterly payments.
Overpaying slightly is cheaper than underpaying.
How do you make it hit the right year?
By stating the year and the form on the payment itself, every time. A payment with no year attached lands wherever the system thinks best, which is frequently not where you wanted it. Misapplied payments take months to move.
Our guide to amending a US return covers corrections generally.
Check the online account a fortnight later.
What if paying the IRS in full is impossible?
Pay what you can and arrange the rest, because a partial payment reduces both the interest and the penalty base. Usually you can set an instalment agreement up online, although it still wants an American bank account for the direct debit.
Our guide to an offer in compromise covers settling.
Doing nothing is the only option with no upside.
Does the exchange rate matter?
To your cost, yes, but not to the tax. You owe a dollar figure, so sterling movement changes what the payment costs you rather than what you owe. In practice, paying on a good day saves real money on a large bill.
Our guide to currency gains on UK bank accounts covers the related charge.
Your bank's spread usually costs more than the wire fee.
Should you use a currency broker?
On a large payment it often saves more than the fees involved, because high street spreads are wide. The broker sends the dollars onward with your reference attached. Check they can include the full payment detail before committing.
Our guide to UK bank account closures covers banking here.
A broker that strips the reference causes a misapplied payment.
Can somebody else send the money?
The money can come from anywhere as long as the payment carries your details. A spouse's account, a company account or a relative all work mechanically. Where a gift is involved there may be other consequences worth checking first.
Our guide to US gift tax for expats covers gifts.
The reference matters more than the source.
How long does paying the IRS by wire take?
A few days to reach the account and up to a fortnight to show on your record. Treat the date your bank sent it as the payment date, since that is what counts for interest. Keep the confirmation until it appears.
Our guide to the US-UK tax treaty covers a related point.
Do not send a second payment because the first has not shown.
What about state tax?
Each state runs its own system and most are worse than the federal one for foreign payers. Some accept cards and some effectively require an American account. Deal with the state separately and early, because the options are narrower.
Our guide to state tax for expats covers the states.
Nothing about a federal payment reaches a state.
Does paying the IRS affect your UK tax?
Only through the credit, and only on tax properly due. American tax paid on income Britain also taxes can support a claim here, though the direction of relief usually runs the other way for a resident. The payment itself is not deductible.
Our guide to Form 1116 income baskets covers the credit.
Penalties and interest never count towards it.
What records should you keep?
The wire confirmation with its reference, the worksheet you completed, and a screenshot of your account once it posts. Those three prove payment and date, which is all anybody will ever ask about afterwards.
Our guide to registering for Self Assessment covers a related point.
Keep them for at least four years.
Does paying the IRS early help?
It stops interest on whatever you have paid, so yes. There is no discount for being early and no penalty either. So if the money is sitting there and the figure is known, sending it in April rather than October simply costs less.
Our guide to US tax deadlines for expats covers the dates.
An overpayment comes back as a refund or rolls forward.
What if the payment goes to the wrong year?
You write and ask for it to be moved, and then you wait. Misapplied payments are common and slow to fix, because the request goes into the same queue as everything else. Meanwhile interest keeps running on the year you meant to pay.
Our guide to the Taxpayer Advocate Service covers a stuck case.
Prevention here is worth far more than cure.
Can you pay from a dollar account held here?
Often yes, and it is a useful halfway house. Some British banks offer a dollar account, which removes the exchange step and may cut the wire cost. But it is still a foreign account, so the free domestic methods remain closed to you.
Our guide to FBAR signature authority covers reporting it.
A dollar account in Britain is still reportable.
Does an old US account still work?
If it is open and you can reach it, yes, and that is the cheapest route of all. Many expats keep one open quietly for exactly this. But banks do close dormant accounts, and some object to a foreign address.
Our guide to US withholding tax for UK investors covers American accounts.
Check it still works before you need it.
What about penalties on top?
Late payment runs at a monthly percentage of the unpaid tax, and interest sits on top of that. Both are charged from April. Still, paying part of the bill reduces both, so a partial payment is never wasted.
Our guide to first time penalty abatement covers relief.
Interest cannot be abated, although penalties sometimes can.
Do you need to tell anybody you have paid?
Not separately, because the payment carries its own reference. But if you are mid-correspondence about a notice, mention the payment and its date in your reply. Otherwise the letter and the money travel through the system independently.
Our guide to IRS math error notices covers replying to letters.
Quote the wire reference in any letter.
Is there a limit on what you can send?
Not from the IRS side, although card processors cap individual payments and your bank may question a large wire. Larger bills usually go by wire for that reason. Warn your bank in advance if the sum is unusual for your account.
Our guide to the statutory residence test covers a related point.
Unexpected large transfers get held for checks.
What if you are owed a refund instead?
Then the problem reverses, because a refund cheque in dollars is awkward to bank here. Asking for a direct deposit needs an American account, so many expats end up applying the overpayment to next year instead. That is usually the tidiest answer.
Our guide to Form 843 refund claims covers claiming money back.
Rolling it forward avoids the cheque entirely.
Does the method affect the payment date?
Each route has its own rule, and the differences matter near a deadline. A card payment counts on the day you authorise it, while a wire counts when your bank sends it. A posted cheque counts when it arrives, which is the weakness of posting one.
Our guide to payments on account covers the British equivalent.
Leave a week of margin whichever route you pick.
Can your accountant pay on your behalf?
They can arrange it and should not move your money through their own account. A reputable firm gives you the details and lets you send the payment yourself. That keeps the audit trail clean and the responsibility where it belongs.
Our guide to choosing a US-UK tax accountant covers what to expect.
Be wary of anybody wanting the tax paid to them.
What about quarterly estimates?
The same routes apply, four times a year, which makes the cost of each one matter more. Somebody wiring four payments annually pays four wire fees, so a single annual payment plus a small penalty is occasionally cheaper. Run the numbers before assuming.
Our guide to Form 2555 and the exclusion covers a related point.
Card fees stack up the same way across four payments.
Does the IRS accept sterling?
No, it wants dollars, so the conversion happens before the money reaches them. Whoever converts it sets the rate, which is why the bank you use matters more than the fee it quotes. A poor rate costs more than any wire charge.
Compare the total cost in sterling, not the headline fee.
Ask your bank for the all-in figure before confirming.
How to pay the IRS from Britain
- Work out the figure and the year it belongs to.
- Check whether you still have any usable American account.
- Choose between a wire, a card and a broker on cost.
- Complete the payment worksheet with the form and year.
- Send it by April, whatever filing extension you hold.
- Compare your bank's exchange spread against a broker.
- Keep the confirmation and the reference number.
- Check your online account a fortnight later.
Mistakes and penalties we see paying the IRS
The first is assuming an extension to file postponed the payment, and collecting interest from April without realising.
The second is sending a wire without the year and form, so the money sits against the wrong period for months.
The third is putting a large bill on a credit card and paying a percentage fee that a wire would have avoided.
The fourth is sending a second payment because the first had not appeared yet, then spending a year reclaiming one of them.
How US UK Tax Accountants helps
We pick the route on total cost rather than convenience, because the exchange spread on a large payment usually dwarfs every fee attached to it.
Then we check the money landed against the right year. Our US federal returns service covers the return behind it.
If you owe something and have no American bank account, get in touch.
Last reviewed 29 October 2026. This article is general information and not personal tax advice, and payment methods change.
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Official guidance from the IRS, FinCEN and GOV.UK. Thresholds and rates on those pages are updated annually — check the current tax year before relying on a figure.
