Taking an Online Payment (or Assessing an NSF Charge)

Last Revised: September 22, 2020

Use the Online Payment program to take a payment for a SIT account or assess a returned item (NSF) charge.  

Note:  All tax units for NSF charges must be created in the Tax Unit Maintenance screen prior to using the Online Payment program.

Client preferences:

SIT_MULTIPAYMENT_ALERT: set to Y if you want to see a warning message when you are making a payment for a month that has already been paid (at least in part).

SIT_RECEIPT_NAME : Set to FORMAT1 for the original receipt or FORMAT2 for the revised version (used by El Paso County).

RECEIPT_SHOW_BALANCE_DUE: Set to Y to show the balance due on receipts; set to N to omit this amount.

CPA: Set to the Tax Assessor-Collector's name. This is used on receipts.

PRINT_JUR_EMAIL: Set to Y to print the jurisdiction e-mail address on receipts. Set to N (the default) to avoid printing this.

PAYMENT_PENALTY_OVERRIDE: Set to Y to show radio buttons on the Payment screen for 5% or 10% penalty. Set to N (the default) to hide these buttons. If set to Y, users must have the SIT_AGENT role and payment_penalty_override function to use the buttons.

SIT_FINES_PAY: Set to FIRST (the default) to force fines to be paid first. Set to LAST (the default) to force fines to be paid last.

SHOW_PAY_ALERT_MIN_ESCROW_AMT: Set to the minimum amount desired (default is 1000, or $1000) to show a message about a remaining escrow overage (refund) balance.

SHOW_PAY_ALERT_MIN_BAL_AMT: Set to the minimum amount desired (default is 1000, or $1000) to show a message about a remaining total balance.

User Entitlements

The following user entitlements are used on this screen. They are part of the Make SI Online Payment task, which is part of the SI Cashier and SI Head Cashier jobs. See Tasks, Entitlements, and Jobs for more information.

SI_ACT8001V: Access to query and create online deposits

SI_CHANGE_DEPDATES: Ability to change deposit and receipt dates when creating online deposits

SI_NSF_ADD: Ability to add an NSF fee in online and reversal deposits

SI_NSF_DELETE: Ability to delete an NSF fee in online deposits

SI_PAYMENT_PENALTY_OVERRIDE: Use radio buttons for penalty override [pref PAYMENT_PENALTY_OVERRIDE must be set to Y]

SI_PAYMENT_VOID: Ability to void a payment

SI_SHOW_DEPCTL_TOTALS: Show deposit control totals (granted by default)

  1. Double-click Online Payment on the Main Menu or select Online Payment on the Go To list.
  2. In the Deposit Control screen, open or re-open a Special Inventory Escrow deposit.
  3. Click Payment Transaction; the Payment Entry screen will appear.  The Deposit No, Certified Owner, Deposit Date, Operator ID, Receipt Date, Year, Month, Start Date, and UPTV Rate,  fields are auto-filled. If you are carrying an dealer number from another screen, it will appear in the Dealer No field, and the corresponding Account No. will also be shown. The Remit ID defaults to 1 and the Payment Rule defaults to New Sales.
  4.  If the Dealer No. field is blank or if you need to change this number, click in the field and enter the new one.

Note:If you do not know the account number, select Account Search in the Go To list. For more information, see Searching for an Account.  Write down or copy the account number, then enter it into the Online Payment screen.

If the account has been deleted for the current tax year, a message to that effect will appear and you will not be able to process the payment.

  1. If the account is blocked for payment, you will get a warning message and will be able enter a sales amount but not make a payment. (Blocks are set on the Owner Master screen.)
  2. If needed, change the Month (click on the drop-down list) to which you want to post the payment or assess the NSF charge. If you select an earlier month, any applicable penalty will be calculated and the Total Due will change.  This can be see in the gray fields in the middle of the screen.  If you have entered a Payment Amount, it will not change.

Note: The month cannot be later than the month given in the Receipt Date field.

  1. If a Sales Report was entered on the SIT Portal, the sales amount and portal tax amount will be populated after tabbing out of the Month field. You may enter the Remit information next.
  2. Change the Year if necessary.

Note: Only one year at a time will show in the screen.

  1. Change the Receipt Date (which defaults to the date entered when you opened the deposit) if necessary. It cannot be earlier than the month listed in the Month field. You also cannot use a receipt date that is before the receipt date for any other payment already made on the account, with the exception of annual shortage payments.
  2. In the Remit Type field, select one of the drop-down list choices: Check, Cash, Credit Card, Money Order, or Voucher..
  3. To assess an NSF charge,
a. Click Create NSF.   A popup window appears displaying any NSF charges assessed to this account and month. This includes NSF charges assessed to this account on the Fines Payment screen.
b. Click Add Fee.  Details about the fee are displayed. The amount is determined by the client preference set at the ACT office.  Note that the fee is assessed for the month displayed on the Payment Entry screen.
c. Click Close Window.  The NSF charge will display in the NSF Due field.

To delete an NSF charge,

a. Click Delete NSF.   A popup window appears displaying any unpaid NSF charges assessed to this account and month.
b. Highlight the fee to be removed.
c. Click Delete Fee.  Details about the fee are removed.
d. Click Close Window.  If a Sales Amount has already been entered, the NSF charge should be deducted from the amount in the NSF Due field.
  1. Enter the Sales Amount.  If this payment is from the SIT Portal or is the second payment being made for this month (or the third, etc.), and the sales amount reported previously is still accurate, then leave this field blank.

Notes:  If you leave the Sales Amount field blank, the receipt date must be later than that of the original payment. A third payment for the same Sales Amount must be made later than the second payment, etc.  If a new Sales Amount has been entered, the receipt date for the new amount may be earlier than the one for the first Sales Amount entered.

You can enter a sales amount even if the payment is for $0.00.

If you previously entered an incorrect sales amount due to taxpayer error, you can enter the difference in the Sales Amount field for the second payment.  If the sales amount needs to be reduced, enter the difference as a negative amount.

  1. Press Tab; the Due Date, Total Due, Payment Amount, Apply Amount, Levy Due, Penalty, and Escrow will be generated by the system.  The Previous row displays any amounts due for this month before this payment; the New displays new amounts due as a result of the new sales amount just entered.

Any NSF fees due for the specified month appear in the NSF Due field.

Note: If this is a late payment, a penalty amount will display.  Penalty amounts are not calculated on NSF charges. If the sales report for this month was entered on the SIT Portal, these amounts are populated after tabbing out of the Receipt Date field.

  1. For all non-cash payments, enter a Remit ID. Typically this is a check number or other transaction ID number.

Note: If you have more than one check for a single payment, you will need to split it into multiple transactions, entering the same check number each time.  Enter $0.00 as the Sales Amount in all but the first transaction.

  1. If necessary, change the Payment Amount to match the total amount of the check or cash tendered.

Note:  You can enter an amount of $0.00 if you just need to record the sales amount for that month or if you are paying off the balance of the escrow due for a month.

  1. Change the Apply Amount ONLY if you are paying with cash and want change back. In that case, change the Apply Amount to the amount of cash to be applied toward the Total Due.
  2. Fill in the optional fields as shown below:
FIELD DESCRIPTION
Payer If someone other than the Certified Owner is making the payment, enter the Alternate Payer name. Important: The name must be entered correctly, otherwise a new record will be created.
No Penalty If a partial payment has been made previously for this account and month and that payment already paid the penalty due at that time, check the No Penalty box to zero out the penalty for the payment now displaying (assuming that this is a late payment that pays the remaining balance for that month).  If this box is checked, no sales amount should be entered if there is no change in the sales amount already reported for that month.
Alternate Owner Click the Alternate Owner check box to place a check there if the payer is the DBA address listed in the Owner Master screen.
Do Not Use Escrow Click the Do Not Use Escrow box to avoid using any available refund amounts when taking a payment.
No NSF If an NSF charge is due for this account and month, normally this fee will be paid off first when the payment is applied. If you do not want to pay the NSF charge as part of this payment, place a check mark in the No NSF check box.
Escrow Only Click the Escrow Only check box to place a check there if the payment is for escrow only (a payment for a future month).  In this case, do not enter a Sales Amount.
  1. Click Apply to process and save the payment; for some tax offices, a receipt and, if necessary, shortage, overage, or late letters will be generated for the payment. If any change is due, the amount appears at the bottom of the screen.

Notes: The screen clears and information from this payment appears at the bottom of the screen. The next account can now be entered.  If you have already made a payment for the same month (even if the payment was for $0.00) and the client preference SIT_MULTIPAYMENT_ALERT is set to Y, a popup will appear that asks if you want to continue.

The Payment Count and Total will be updated to reflect this payment.  This information (the number of payments and total amount of funds in this deposit) is also available on the Deposit Control screen.

NSF charges are paid off first, then penalty.  Levy is paid last.

A note is entered into the Notes screen with information about any refund created due to an overpayment.

  1. Click Print Receipt if you want to print a receipt for this payment.  Batch receipts can also be printed later from the Batch Menu.  Receipts are not printed for negative sales amounts. They have the Alternate Owner/Address information instead of the payer's name.
  2. Choose Account Status from the Go To list and verify that the payment was processed correctly.  If you made a payment for a future month, the amount will be in the Escrow/Refund column.  If you paid a penalty, the Penalty field will be yellow. If you overpaid the amount due, the difference will be included with the Escrow Paid amount.

If an alternate payer made this payment, you can drill-down to the Remittance Detail popup to see the name of that payer.

Note:  If you have made a payment for a prior year, you must click in the Account No. field, press Tab, change the Year, and press Tab again.