The (Only) Two Reasons to Pay Taxes with a Credit or Debit Card

It’s tax time, and the age-old question resurfaces: should I pay my taxes with a debit or credit card to earn some money back? Let me make the answer easy for you: No, unless you earn 2% rewards on your credit card or some rewards on your debit card. It’s that simple. Read on for our calculations on when to use plastic to pay the IRS, which cards to use, and what happens to do when you need some extra time to pay the tax man.

When you’ll earn rewards, and when you’ll just lose out

If you want to earn cash back, points or miles from filing your taxes, you have two options. The first is to pay by credit card. If you have 2% rewards or more on your credit card, you swallow payUSAtax.com’s 1.89% convenience fee and still come out 0.11% ahead. Sure, that doesn’t sound like much, but it’s essentially free money. The other service providers listed by the IRS charge convenience fees of 2.29% or more, so you’ll pay more in fees than you’ll earn back.

The cards that get you there:

• The Capital One Venture Rewards: One of our favorite travel cards, it has no annual fee in the first year (use it for the 2011 tax season and skedaddle!) and has the acceptance of a Visa card. Oh, and one more thing. The Capital One Venture has a signup bonus of 10,000 Capital One No Hassle Miles℠ when you spend $1,000 on purchases within the first 90 days.
• The Discover Escape: Also earns 2% rewards, but its $60 annual fee isn’t waived the first year, the signup bonus is spread out over a full 25 months, and Discover doesn’t exactly have universal acceptance.

You’ll notice that the Fideliy Amex and Starwood American Express aren’t up there. That’s because payUSAtax doesn’t accept Amex, so it directs you to Value Tax Payment, which charges a 2.29% convenience fee.

Capital One® VentureSM Rewards Credit Card
	2 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day As seen in Money® Magazine's "Best" issue three years in a row. - Money® Magazine May 2010, 2011, 2012 Earn 10,000 bonus miles when you spend $1,000 on purchases within the first 3 months, equal to $100 in travel Redeem your miles for any travel expense No limit on the miles you can earn and miles don't expire Fly on any airline, any time with no blackout dates No foreign transaction fees $0 intro annual fee for the first year; $59 after that		Pros High rewards rate No foreign transaction fee Cons Has annual fee

Paying by debit: Go big or go home

You can also come out ahead if you pay by debit card and your rewards will be greater than $3.49. ValueTaxPayment.com and payUSAtax.com charge a flat debit card fee of $3.49, so if your debit card earns 1% rewards, you’ll be in the black if you pay at least $3.50. Of course, be sure to check that your debit card gives rewards on taxes – as a reader pointed out, our beloved PerkStreet card excludes tax payments.

Many credit unions, including universally accessible Las Colinas Federal, offer 0.5% rewards on their debit cards – check out our credit union finder to check your eligibility. With a 0.5% debit card, if you pay more than $700 in taxes, you’ll come out ahead.

When should you use a 0.5% rewards debit card over a 2% rewards credit card? If you pay more than $392.14 in taxes (and aren’t uncomfortable with having a lot of money in your checking account), go with rewards debit. Consider the following scenarios:

Pretty quickly, the .5% rewards debit card overtakes the 2% rewards credit card. There are a few caveats to this, though: some debit cards won’t let you earn rewards on taxes. Also, credit cards give you a full 21+ days to pay off your balance without interest, while you have to have the money in your checking account already to pay by debit; and while credit cards limit your fraud liability to $50 no matter what, if you don’t report your card lost or stolen within 2 business days, you could be liable for up to $600 instead of just $50. That said, if you can be vigilant and if you only hold such a large balance for as long as you need to pay your taxes, you can minimize your risk. If you’re paying more than $350 to the IRS (and let’s face it, most of us are), paying by rewards debit is the way to go!

PerkStreet FinancialSM MasterCard® Debit Card
	Up to 2% cash back on debit card purchases - unlimited cash back Plus, earn up to 25% cash back at leading retailers every week The average American will earn $500 every year in cash back No monthly maintenance fees Free online bill pay Easy electronic transfers 24/7 customer support		Pros Qualify w/ average credit No annual fee

Can’t afford to pay all your taxes right now?

Another reason to use a credit card to pay taxes is a simple lack of cash. If you get a 0% introductory APR credit card, you can pay your taxes come April 15th, and take 6, 12 or even 18 months to pay it off. You will pay the 1.89% upfront fee, but that’s a small price to pay for no interest on your debt. The longest introductory period goes to the Citi Diamond Preferred, with 18 months of no purchase or transfer APR or annual fee. But if you don’t need the full 18 months, you can get the best of both worlds with 12 months of no interest and rewards! The Capital One Cash Rewards gives you one full year to pay off your taxes, and will throw in $100 cash back and 1.5% rewards in the bargain. It, too, has no annual fee.

Capital One® Cash Rewards - $100 Cash Back Bonus
	$100 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months 50% bonus on the cash back you earn every year 1% cash back on all purchases No annual fee Earn unlimited cash back that doesn't expire Redeem cash back anytime for any amount, even set automatic redemptions Personalize your card with an image of your choice 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers until June 2014		Pros High rewards rate No annual fee 0% until June 2014 on transfers No foreign transaction fee Cons Needs excellent credit

Happy tax day, everyone!