April 15. The day for the deadline of tax payments. However, if you are a freelancer or self-employed, then you will have to make an estimated tax payments every three months, with the late payment due on January 15.
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You might want to consider charging your taxes so that you are able to earn points, miles, or cash back if you are playing around with credit card rewards. However, there is also a cost when it comes to using your credit card. In this guide, we will cover the many pros and cons of paying your taxed with your credit card.
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Choose Which Way To Pay Your Taxes
There are many ways in which you can make tax payments to the federal government. This include checks by mail and via debit or credit card. To process debit and credit card payments, the IRS authorizes three different companies:
| PayUSAtax | Pay1040 | OfficialPayments |
| Debit Fee: $2.55 | Debit Fee: $2.58 | Debit Fee: $2.00 or $3.95* |
| Credit Fee: 1.96% Minimum: $2.69 |
Credit Fee: 1.87% Minimum: $2.59 |
Credit Fee: 1.87% Minimum: $2.59 |
Paying By Check
The least expensive way to pay your taxes is mailing a check to the IRS. There is no “convenience” fee. The only cost is to provide the envelope ad stamp
Paying By Debit Card
When paying your taxes with a debit card, it involves a flat convenience fee that cost between $2 to $3.95. It depends on the payment processer that you choose and whether your tax payment is over $1,000. This is one of way to pay your taxes that is inexpensive because your fee will always be less than $4.
Paying By Credit Card
The method of paying your taxes using a credit card comes with convenience fee. This is a percentage of the tax amount. The fee costs are between 1.87% to 1.99%.
Besides credit cards, all three processors now accept digital wallet payments:
| Digital Wallet | PayUSAtax | Pay1040 | OfficialPayments |
| Visa Checkout | X | X | X |
| American Express Checkout | X | X | X |
| MasterPass | X | X | |
| Android Pay | X | ||
| Samsung Pay | X | ||
| PayPal | X |
Why You Should Pay Taxes With Your Credit Card
There are advantages when it comes to paying taxes using your credit card, although, it is he most expensive way.
- You will earn reward on your tax payments. This is like any other charge to your rewards card. When using the right card, the value of the points, miles or cash back you earn on your tax payments will overall more than cover the cost of the processing fee.
- Charging your tax payments to your credit card could also bring the sign-up bonuses within reach. This is also the same way for unlocking any card benefits that would require any spending threshold.
- To pay off your taxes over time and without interest, you can used a credit card with interest-free financing on new purchases.
Why You Shouldn’t Pay Taxes With Your Credit Card
The one thing that we do not recommend is financing a tax payment using your credit card if your interest rate is high. As a reminder, if you cannot pay your statement balance in full then do not charge taxes to your credit card. This is unless you have a zero-interest introductory rate.
We advise you to talk to your accountant or tax advisor and go over all of your options. There is a possibility that the IRS will let you make a payment plan with lower interest than most credit cards.
Best Credit Cards For Tax Payments
| Credit Card | Earning Rate | Potential Return |
| The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express | 2X Points | 4% |
| American Express EveryDay Credit Card | 1X Points | 3% |
| The Business Platinum Card® from American Express | 1X Points | 3% |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited® | 1.5% Cash Back | 3% |
| Ink Business Unlimited? Credit Card | 1.5% Cash Back | 3% |
| Discover it Miles Card | 1.5X Miles | 3% |
| Alliant Visa | 2.5% Cash Back | 3% |
| Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card | 2X Miles | 2.8% |
| Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business | 2X Miles | 2.8% |
The Best Among Those Credit Cards
 The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card offers $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. You'll earn an unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business and you'll receive employee cards at no additional cost. This card carries no annual fee. |
 The Business Platinum Card® from American Express has a welcome offer of 150,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $20,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. You'll earn: • 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com. • 1.5X points (that's an extra half point per dollar) on each eligible purchase at US construction material, hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more, on up to $2 million per Card Account per calendar year. Purchases eligible for multiple additional point bonuses will only receive the highest eligible bonus. • 1X points for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases • Unlock over $1,000 in statement credits on select purchases, including tech, recruiting and wireless in the first year of membership with the Business Platinum Card. Enrollment required. • $200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to the Card. • $199 CLEAR Plus Credit: Use your card and get up to $199 in statement credits per calendar year on your CLEAR Plus Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use the Business Platinum Card. This card does come with a $695 annual fee. (See Rates & Fees) Terms Apply. |
 With the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express: Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership. 0.0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a variable rate, 17.74% - 25.74%, based on your creditworthiness and other factors at account opening. APR will not exceed 29.99% Earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. You'll earn 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply. You've got the power to spend beyond your credit limit* with Expanded Buying Power. *The amount you can spend above your credit limit is flexible, so it adapts with your use of the Card, your payment history, credit record, financial resources known to us, and other factors. Just remember, the amount you can spend with Expanded Buying Power is not unlimited. There card comes with no annual fee (See Rates & Fees). Terms Apply. |
 The Capital One Spark Cash offers a one-time $750 cash bonus once you spend $7,500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. You're able to earn an unlimited 2% cash back for your business on every purchase, everywhere, no limits or category restrictions. Free employee cards, which also earn unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases Rewards won't expire for the life of the account, and you can redeem your cash back for any amount This card does come with no foreign transaction fees and $0 annual fee for the first year; $95 after that. |
Bottom Line
It is solely up to you if you decide to make your tax payment with a credit card. It is a great idea to do so if you can pay your balance in full, your rewards supersede the convenience fee, or if you have 0% intro APR card. Read the information above to review the best options for you.
