When the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) exercised the third of four optional one-year contract extensions with Official Payments Corp.®, they also expanded the tax types eligible for credit card payment to business taxes. The contract renewal also authorizes Official Payments to continue collecting and processing individual federal income tax payments by credit card. Official Payments is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tier Technologies, Inc.

Official Payments has been processing credit card payments for individual federal taxpayers since 1999. Federal taxpayers can make Balance Due, Estimated, Extension, Installment Agreement, Prior Tax Year and Balance Due Notice Payments by phone or online. Beginning January 1, 2006, the IRS has newly authorized Official Payments to accept federal individual Advanced Payment of Determined Deficiency payments for tax years 2003 through 2005, Prior Tax Years’ payments for 1996 to 2004 and Installment Agreement payments for tax years 1996 through 2005.

The IRS has expanded the tax types eligible for credit card payments to business tax including balance due (excluding Federal Tax Deposits) on Form 940, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) and Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Returns beginning in the 2006 tax season.

“After working together for eight years in providing U.S. taxpayers secure electronic tax payment processing services, we are delighted that the IRS has chosen to renew this contract for an additional year,” says James R. Weaver, Tier’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We are also extremely pleased that the IRS has expanded the contract to include business taxes. Now all businesses making federal balance due tax payments on the returns associated with Forms 940 and 941 will have the same opportunity as individual taxpayers to experience the convenience of making electronic credit card payments through our proven systems.”

Official Payments provides electronic payment services for the IRS, 25 states, the District of Columbia and more than 1,700 local governments clients nationwide. Citizens using the Official Payments service via the web site or toll-free telephone number 1-800-2PAY-TAX, are charged a convenience fee.