As tax deadlines near, IRS reminds filers of free direct pay tool

Tax deadlines are approaching - Monday marks the deadline for farmers and fishermen.

According to an Internal Revenue Service press release, "Farmers and fishermen who chose to forgo making quarterly estimated tax payments for 2014 generally must file their 2014 federal return and pay any tax due by Monday, March 2, 2015."

The IRS is also reminding filers about the new IRS direct pay tool, which allows taxpayers to quickly and efficiently pay taxes they owe.

The free tool is available online at IRS.gov/directpay. It allows filers to "securely pay their income tax directly from checking or savings accounts without any fees or pre-registration," according to an IRS press release. The direct pay tool launched last tax season. Since then, more than 2.8 million tax payments have been processed through the tool.

With direct pay, taxpayers can schedule payments up to 30 days ahead of time and the system is available for taxpayers to use 24 hours a day, seven days a week.