In 2005 the Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) began to automatically charge a penalty for underpayment of estimated tax by any person, financial institution or business. This change took effect January 1, 2005, for tax year 2004 returns.

OTR will charge 10 percent interest, compounded daily, on any underpayment of estimated taxes. In the past, auditors manually added this charge. OTR’s Integrated Tax System (ITS) is now able to find all underpayments of estimated taxes and automatically charge penalties.

To avoid such charges, taxpayers should remember the following instructions when filing District returns and when planning for the coming tax year:

Instructions for Corporations, Financial Institutions, and Unincorporated Businesses

• Each corporation, financial institution, and unincorporated business required to file a DC return must pay estimated taxes, if its tax for the year is more than $1,000.
• Pay your estimated tax payments online at MyTax.DC.gov or you can use vouchers from the D-20ES or D-30ES booklet, which can be found on the Business Tax Forms and Publications page.

Persons with questions about estimated tax requirements may call OTR Customer Service at (202) 727-4829.