I paid 2008 estimated taxes and have not received any verification or receipt from the IRS of how much was paid. How do I indicate this additional tax payment when I prepare my return?

Thank you,

Your payment verification should be a canceled check, line on your bank statement that shows the check was cashed (it's a good idea to have checks that produce carbonless copies if your bank doesn't return cashed checks to you) or money order receipt. In the unlikely event that a payment gets lost in the mail the post office's charges for a certificate of mailing are pretty modest (like certified without the signatures and tracking).

When you made the payments the IRS would have used the forms accompanying the payments to make computer records of the payment to match against the total you report on your return.

Look for the line for entering"2008 estimated tax payments..." on your return. Look for line 39 on 1040A or 63 on 1040. The IRS normally includes "Attach form..." or "Attach Schedule..." on the return when a entry requires additional forms/schedules (including W2s). Always include a form with payments so that the IRS can credit your payments to your account using you ID number (often your SSN). Make sure the name(s) on all forms match the record at the social security administration (compare against your annual social security statement).

Save your estimated tax payment verification, as well as any final payment's verification, in case the IRS asks for proof later.