Alright, April 15th has come and gone, but you still can do a little something extra to help out. There is actually an obscure provision in the federal tax code which entices taxpayers to pay a little extra to Uncle Sam: the ability to write a special check to help pay down U.S. debt.
Yes, that's right, you CAN voluntarily send debt-reduction checks to the IRS along with your federal tax return, or just send in a check any ole time. It's not very well publicized by the IRS. There's no line on the 1040 form for "debt reduction." However, the IRS website offers instructions for those who don't feel they pay their "fair share":
If you want, make a check payable to “Bureau of the Public Debt.” You can send it to:
Bureau of the Public Debt, Department G, P.O. Box 2188, Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188.
Or you can enclose the check with your income tax return when you file.
According to the most recent IRS Data Book, last year 48 taxpayers mailed in contributions to reduce the public debt, for a total of exactly $21,179. That's $441 per gift. Since 1982, there have been a total of 16,122 voluntary contributions to reduce the debt, for a grand total of $9.8 million—or about 0.00012 percent of the nation's public debt of $8,367,661,575,868 as of March 29, 2006 according to the U.S. Treasury.
(Info courtesy of The Tax Foundation)
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