On August 6, 2026, the IRS added a set of features to Business Tax Account (BTA) that close some of the most annoying gaps in managing federal tax obligations online — chief among them, downloading proof of your EIN without calling the Business and Specialty Tax Line and waiting for a 147C letter.
What happened
The IRS expanded BTA, the online portal it launched in October 2023, with several new capabilities, per CPA Practice Advisor:
- A growing library of digital notices, including CP081B (a possible refund), CP211A (extension application approved), and CP134R (federal tax deposit discrepancy — refund due).
- EIN verification via Notice CP575, which designated officials can now download. This is the document banks and payment processors typically ask for, and it previously meant requesting a Letter 147C by phone.
- Installment agreement management — viewing balances and making payments toward an existing plan.
- Offer in Compromise payments, for tax debts proposed to be settled for less than the full amount owed.
Eligibility currently covers sole proprietors with an IRS-issued EIN, individual partners and shareholders with an SSN or ITIN and a Schedule K-1 on file, S corporations, C corporations, federal/state/local governments, tribal governments, and tax-exempt organizations.
Why it matters
Most small business tax friction isn’t the return — it’s the errands around it. Proving an EIN to open a merchant account. Confirming an extension was actually accepted. Finding out whether last quarter’s federal tax deposit landed in the right period. Each of those historically meant a phone queue.
“By expanding online self-service options, BTA makes it easier for eligible businesses and organizations to manage their federal tax obligations securely and conveniently online without making a phone call or traveling to physical office.” — IRS CEO Frank Bisignano
That matters more than usual right now: IRS staffing is down sharply, and self-service is the part of the agency actually being expanded.
What this means for small business owners
Set up BTA before you need it. Identity verification takes time and a document scan. Doing it during a bank onboarding deadline is the wrong moment.
Use CP575 for lender and processor requests. Anywhere you’d previously chase a 147C — business bank accounts, payment processor underwriting, state registrations, insurance — the downloadable notice should now cover it.
Reconcile BTA against your books quarterly. The deposit-discrepancy notices (CP134R and relatives) exist because payroll tax deposits were applied to a different period than intended. That’s exactly the kind of error that hides in a payroll clearing account for three quarters. Pull the IRS-side record and tie it to your general ledger.
Self-service still isn’t advice. BTA will show you a balance and take your money. It won’t tell you whether an installment agreement or an Offer in Compromise is the right route, or whether the underlying liability is even correct.
The bottom line
The IRS is steadily moving business tax administration into a portal, and the August 6 update makes BTA genuinely useful rather than merely informational. Register now, verify identity while nothing is urgent, and add a quarterly BTA-to-books reconciliation to your close checklist — the notices it surfaces are cheapest to fix in the quarter they occur.
