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Make, Cancel, or Correct a Payment

You can pay:

  • Many, but not all, US Government Agencies.
  • Fines and traffic tickets issued on US Government property, including Federal Buildings and National Parks.
  • National Park camping permits.
  • Federal lands hunting permits.
  • Some US Court fees and fines.
  • Veterans Affairs Medical copays.
  • Small Business Administration loan repayments (redirected to the MySBA Loan Portal).
    Other SBA payments can be found using the See All Forms search.
  • Bills received from US Government Agencies.
  • Donations to Federal programs, intitutes, and disaster relief.
  • Many other payments.

You cannot pay:

  • Your Federal Income Tax (go to the IRS website).
  • Your Student Loan.
  • Medicare.
  • Your City, County, or State.
  • Public or private businesses.
  • Charities.
  • Any US Goverment agency or program that does not accept payments through Pay.gov.

ACH (bank account) payment limits

  • A single transaction is limited to $99,999,999.99 or less, but is restricted to the amount available in your bank (ACH) account.
  • Agencies may allow only minimum and/or maximum payment amounts.
  • Some agencies allow only ACH or Debit Card payments for some transactions (paying a debt for example).
  • The payment's Before You Begin page lists restrictions.

Credit Card payment limits

  • All transactions using the same credit card to make payments to any US Government entity are totaled together. The total includes online and payments made directly to an agency (such as over-the-counter purchases).
  • The combined daily total is limited to $24,999.99.
  • You cannot split a payment between two or more credit cards. Split transactions must use ACHJ.
  • Some agencies allow only minimum and/or maximum payments.
  • The payment's Before You Begin page lists restrictions.

Debit Card payment limits

  • The is no maximum dollar limit for transactions paid with a debit card.
  • Your use of a debit card may be limited by the amount available in your bank account.
  • Some agencies allow only minimum and/or maximum payments.
  • The payment's Before You Begin page lists restrictions.

Amazon payment limits

  • Only some agencies accept Amazon payments.
  • A single transaction is limited to $10,000.00 or less.
  • You can make any number of transactions in a day.
  • The payment Before You Begin page shows if Amazon payments are accepted.

PayPal Payment Limits

  • Only some agencies accept PayPal payments.
  • A single transaction is limited to $10,000.00 or less.
  • You can make any number of transactions in a day.
  • The payment Before You Begin page shows if PayPal payments are accepted.

You cannot make same-day payments on Pay.gov. To avoid being late:

  • Make your payment on the business day before the date it is due. For example, a payment due on a Monday should be made on the previous Friday.
  • Complete your payment before the daily cut-off time for the payment method used.
  • If the payment due date is a holiday, make your payment at least two business days ahead of time.
  • If you make a payment on a holiday, make sure there is at least one business day before the payment due date.

Some payments will only be accepted during certain dates and times. The range of dates will be shown on the agency form. You cannot select or enter a date outside the range.

Complete a payment before the cut-off time to have it processed the next business day. Payments started before the cut-off time but completed after will be late if the payment is due the following day. When you enter a payment date and the cut-off time has passed, you will be prompted to enter a new date.

  • Bank Accounts — complete by 8:55 PM Eastern Time
  • Credit and Debit Cards — complete by 11:59 PM Eastern Time
  • Amazon and PayPal — complete by 11:50 PM Eastern Time.

Be aware of the time difference between your location and Eastern Time.

  • Examples: bank and savings or checking account number, citation or permit number.
  • VA Medical: account number.

  • If you will not sign in, go to the next step. Most payments can be made without signing in.
  • Pay.gov recommends you create an account and sign in.
  • Signing in lets you use additional Pay.gov features, such as keeping track of your payment history, and setting up automatic recurring payments (autopay) where allowed.

  • A form is the web page an agency uses to collect information about your payment.
  • You must use the correct form or your payment will not be credited by the agency.
  • The most common forms are listed on Pay.gov's home page. Find others in the "What would you like to do?" section, or by searching.

The page shows:

  • What the form is used to pay.
  • What types of accounts can be used for payment. These vary by agency.
  • Additional features available if you Sign In to an account.
  • Click Continue to the Form when finished.

  • Enter required information and the payment amount.
  • You may need to enter a ticket number, permit number, or some other information identifying the payment.
  • Click Continue or a similar button.

  • For payments from a bank account (not debit card) you cannot enter or select a weekend or bank holiday date for a recurring, deferred, or future dated payment. The date must be a bank business day.
  • Select the type of account you will use (bank, card, etc). Then click Next.
  • On the next page enter information about your account.
  • If available, you will have the option to set up a recurring automatic payment. Choose how often to make the payment and the number of payments to make.
  • If paying by Amazon or Paypal, you will be sent to the service to finish your payment.

You must sign in to an account before you can setup automatic payments.

If automatic recurring payments are allowed, there will be a Payment recurring options section at the bottom of the Enter Payment Info page.

  1. Select "I want to set up recurring payments."
  2. Select the Frequency of payment (how often a payment will be made). Choices may include:
    • Weekly — charged every seven (7) calendar days starting with your first payment date.
    • Bi-weekly — charged every 14 calendar days starting with your first payment date.
    • 1st and 15th — charged twice a month on the 1st and 15th.
    • 15th and end of month — charged twice a month on the 15th and last day of the month.
    • Monthly — charged on the same day of every month starting with your payment date.
    • Quarterly — charged every 90 calendar days starting with your first payment date.
  3. Enter the number of payments to be made. For example, enter 12 if you want to make one payment a month for a year.
  4. Click Review and Submit Payment when the payment info is complete.

The actual date your account is charged may be affected by weekends and holidays.

You must sign in to an account before you can setup deferred payments.

A deferred payment is when a payment is created on one day but will be made on a future date, not immediately. This can be your one-time payment or your first scheduled payment.

If deferred payments are allowed, there will be a Payment Date field in the Payment recurring options section at the bottom of the Enter Payment Info page.

  1. Select "I want to set up recurring payments."
  2. Select the kind of payment you want to make — one-time or recurring. (To set up recurring payments, select the frequency and enter the number of payments.)
  3. Enter the payment date, click one of the buttons to choose the earliest payment date, or choose a payment date from a calendar. For payments from a bank acconunt (not a debit card) the date must be a business day. You cannot enter or select a weekend or bank holiday.
  4. Enter the Account Holder Name.
  5. Click Review and Submit Payment when the payment info is complete.

  • Make sure all information is correct, otherwise your payment may not be credited.
  • Enter and confirm your email address.
  • In the CC: field, enter any other email addresses that will receive a payment confirmation. Separate addresses with a comma.
  • You must check the box for the authorization and disclosure.
  • Submit the payment.

  • The confirmation shows your payment was received by Pay.gov.
  • The printed page is your receipt until your confirmation email arrives.

You can cancel a payment on Pay.gov only if:

  • You paid using a bank account, credit or debit card.
  • You were signed in to Pay.gov when you paid.
  • The payment's Transaction Status is Pending (Pay.gov has not submitted it for processing.)

If you paid without signing in:

  1. Contact Pay.gov Customer Support.
  2. You must supply information from the payment's confirmation.

If the payment's Transaction Status is Complete or Success, contact the agency paid.

  • You must supply information from the payment's confirmation.

If you used Amazon or PayPal, contact the service.

  1. Sign in to Pay.gov.
  2. Click My Account.
  3. Click Payment Activity.
  4. Find the payment in the Pending list.
  5. Check the payment's Transaction Status. It must be Pending.
  6. Click the Cancel link.
  7. Click OK to confirm canceling.
  8. The payment is moved to the Completed tab. Its transaction status is changed to Canceled.
  9. If payment is still required, you must create a new payment.

To cancel:

  1. Sign in to Pay.gov.
  2. Click My Account.
  3. Click Payment Activity.
  4. Open the Pending tab.
  5. Find the payment in the list. Only the next scheduled payment is listed.
  6. Click the Cancel link.
  7. Click OK to confirm canceling. All remaining automatic payments are canceled.
  8. The payment is moved to the Completed tab. Its transaction status is changed to Canceled.
  9. If there's a remaining balance, you must set up a new automatic payment or pay it off with a single payment.

Do not contact Pay.gov Customer Support. Customer Support cannot correct payments.

You can correct a payment on Pay.gov yourself if:

  • The payment was made using a bank account, credit card or debit card.
  • You were signed in to Pay.gov when you paid.
  • The payment's Transaction Status is Pending.

First, sign in to Pay.gov.

Second, cancel the pending payment.

  1. Open your My Account page.
  2. Open Payment Activity.
  3. Click the Pending tab.
  4. Find the payment to correct.
  5. Click the Cancel link.
  6. Click OK to comfirm the cancel.
  7. The payment is moved from the Pending tab to the Completed tab. Its Transaction Status is Canceled.
  8. If your payment is not in the Pending Tab,
    check the Completed tab, write down or print the payment summary, and contact the agency paid.

Third, make a new payment with the corrected information.

You must gather the payment information and contact the agency paid if:

  • You were not signed in to Pay.gov when you paid.
  • You made the payment using Amazon or PayPal.
  • You made the payment when signed in, but it is not listed in the Payment Activity Pending tab.
  1. The information needed is on the confirmation from when you authorized and submitted the payment.
  2. You need the Transaction Date, Amount, and Pay.gov Tracking ID.
  3. Contact the agency paid for instructions.

Sometimes you will need to attach files to a payment. These supply additional information about your payment. The option to attach files opens after you click the form's Continue button.

  1. In the Attach File box, enter or browse for the file name.
  2. Click Attach.
  3. Click Next.

Attachment Files Types Allowed

  • TXT — A text-only file without formatting, such as those created with Microsoft Notepad.
  • CSV — Comma Separated Values file. A plain-text-like file used for data originally in tables or spreadsheets. Microsoft Excel can save spreadsheets in this format.
  • PDF — Files in the Adobe Portable Docment Format.