The Complexities of Payments in the U.S. Tax System and How It’s Draining Tax Professionals

The U.S. tax system has never been simple. Most professionals accept that as part of the job.

In 2025, Americans are expected to spend nearly 7.1 billion hours complying with IRS tax filing and reporting requirements. That’s the equivalent of 3.4 million full-time workers doing nothing but tax paperwork for an entire year. That number is usually framed as a taxpayer problem. In reality, it’s also a professional one. Every hour a taxpayer spends confused, delayed, or unsure is an hour that eventually lands back on a tax professional’s desk.

What often gets overlooked is where that complexity shows up most clearly. Not in the tax rules themselves, but in the final step of the process: making the payment.

Tax payments sit at the intersection of everything that makes the U.S. system difficult: overlapping jurisdictions, constant change, outdated infrastructure, and inconsistent support. Filing may be complex, but payment is where confusion turns into penalties, frustration, and lost trust.

If we want to build a more sustainable future for tax professionals, we have to look closely at why the US tax system and its payments are so hard to manage.

In today’s blog, we’ll break down the biggest structural complexities of the U.S. tax system and explain how they directly impact tax payments and the professionals responsible for guiding clients through them.

Complexity #1: Federal and State Systems That Don’t Talk to Each Other

At a high level, the idea of federal and state taxes feels straightforward. In practice, it rarely is.

The federal government operates one set of tax rules, deadlines, and payment systems. Each state operates its own. For businesses, individuals, and firms working across multiple states, this quickly becomes a maze.

In each of the fifty states, there are different tax rules: In forty-one states, state income taxes apply to individual earnings, with additional states taxing savings income or estates.

From a payment perspective, this overlap creates immediate friction:

• Separate portals for federal and state payments
  
  
• Different login credentials and authentication steps
  
  
• Different accepted payment methods
  
  
• Different confirmation and tracking systems
  
  

Clients often assume that once a return is filed, the payment process is straightforward. When they realize they need to navigate multiple systems, confusion sets in. They turn to their accountant for clarity.

This is where firms quietly absorb the burden. Teams spend time explaining where payments go, how much is owed to each agency, and why a single payment doesn’t satisfy all obligations. None of this work is billed as “payment management,” but it consumes real time and energy.

Complexity #2: Constant Change and the Shift to Digital Payments

Tax professionals don’t just manage complexity. They manage change.

Tax laws evolve constantly. Thresholds change. Credits expire. New requirements appear. One of the most impactful shifts in recent years has been the move toward digital-first and paperless tax payments by the IRS.

On paper, this shift makes sense. Paper checks are slow, error-prone, and difficult to track. In practice, the transition has been uneven. Many clients are uncomfortable with digital payment systems. Others struggle with authentication, unfamiliar interfaces, or fear making a mistake.

As a result, tax professionals become translators. They explain new processes, walk clients through portals, and reassure them that payments were submitted correctly. At the same time, firms are updating their own workflows to keep up.

This challenge is compounded by the scale of the tax code itself. It is long, technical, and constantly changing. No professional can know every detail across every jurisdiction. What was acceptable last year may be incorrect this year, especially when it comes to payment methods and deadlines.

For professionals, this creates a constant sense of vigilance. You can be right one year and wrong the next, not because you missed something obvious, but because the rules shifted again.

Complexity #3: Navigation and Lack of Real Support

Even when the rules are understood, the systems used to execute tax payments introduce another layer of difficulty.

Federal and state portals are notoriously hard to navigate. Each agency maintains its own interface, terminology, and workflow. Finding the right payment option, confirming submission, or correcting an error can be frustrating even for experienced users.

One of the biggest pain points is visibility. Once a payment is submitted, it’s often difficult to track its status. Leaving taxpayers and their accountants wondering:

• Was it received? 
• Was it applied correctly? 
• When will I receive the return?

On top of that, support is limited. Many tax professionals and taxpayers report long wait times when calling for assistance, often met with automated messages about high call volumes before the call disconnects. In many cases, human support is simply unavailable.

When clients don’t know what’s happening, they turn to their accountant. The support burden lands squarely on the firm, even though the firm has limited control over the system itself. This creates stress, increases liability concerns, and pulls professionals further away from advisory work.

Complexity #4: Deadlines That Rarely Line Up

Deadlines add another layer of pressure to an already fragmented system.

There is no single tax calendar. Individuals, partnerships, corporations, trusts, payroll taxes, sales taxes, and information returns all follow different schedules. Quarterly estimates overlap with annual filings. Withholding schedules introduce additional complexity.

Extensions often add confusion rather than clarity. Filing extensions do not extend payment deadlines, yet many clients assume they do. This misunderstanding leads to late payments, penalties, and difficult conversations that accountants are left to manage.

For firms with large client bases, keeping track of these overlapping obligations is a constant operational challenge. Missed payments are rarely the result of negligence. More often, they’re the result of a system that is difficult to monitor consistently at scale.

Why Tax Payments End Up on the Accountant’s Plate

Taken together, these complexities explain why tax payments quietly become a major part of an accountant’s workload.

Professionals may not move the funds, but they:

• Explain where and how to pay
  
  
• Send reminders to avoid penalties
  
  
• Confirm whether payments were made
  
  
• Troubleshoot failed or misapplied payments
  
  
• Manage client frustration when things go wrong
  
  

This work is rarely recognized as a formal service, yet it consumes time, drains capacity, and increases risk. It’s one of the clearest examples of how system complexity turns into invisible labor.

How Remitian Helps Simplify a Complex System

The U.S. tax system isn’t going to become simple overnight. Federal and state overlaps will remain. Laws will continue to change. Deadlines will stay fragmented.

What can change is how firms manage tax payments.

Remitian centralizes federal and state tax payments into a single platform, reducing the need to navigate multiple portals and track obligations manually. Firms gain visibility into payment status without stepping into the flow of funds. Clients gain a clearer, more consistent experience.

By simplifying payment workflows, Remitian helps firms adapt to regulatory change, manage overlapping deadlines, and reduce the support burden that often accompanies tax season. The goal isn’t to eliminate complexity, but to make it manageable.

Sound like something you could use? Book a demo with our team. 

FAQ

What makes tax payments so difficult?
Multiple agencies, changing rules, fragmented portals, and limited transparency all contribute to payment complexity.

Do state and federal taxes have different due dates?
Yes. Due dates vary by jurisdiction and tax type, making payment schedules difficult to track without dedicated systems.

When are U.S. tax payment due dates?
Due dates depend on the taxpayer and obligation. Individual income taxes, estimated payments, payroll taxes, sales taxes, and business filings all follow different timelines.

Let’s Make Tax Payments Simpler 

The complexity of the U.S. tax system isn’t just about rules and forms. It’s about what happens after the return is filed. Payments introduce a unique set of challenges that quietly drain time, energy, and capacity from tax professionals.

While the system itself may remain complex, the way firms manage tax payments doesn’t have to be. With the right tools, professionals can reduce friction, improve visibility, and reclaim time that’s better spent advising clients.

If you’re looking to simplify tax payments without adding operational risk, book a demo with Remitian to see how a modern approach can support your firm and your clients.

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