Paying IRS tax bills with a credit card is possible, but it doesn’t always make sense.
Using the right card at the right time can unlock significant rewards that could ultimately help you pay less for travel. However, before you take out a credit card to clear your tax bill, read on to make sure it would make financial sense for you.
Quick Overview of the Best Credit Cards for Paying Taxes
The 2 IRS-approved payment processors charge 1.75% to 2.95%, with higher fees for American Express, business, and debit cards, depending on the processor (Source: IRS). It’s worth ensuring the rewards from using a credit card outweigh the additional cost.
The following cards work best for tax payments:
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (annual fee of $895 (rates & fees)) — best for the highest business card welcome offer
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (annual fee of $395) — earns 2x on all regular spending, including personal taxes
Business cards should be used for paying business taxes, and personal cards for personal taxes. Having good to excellent credit is usually required to be eligible to open the cards featured in this article.
The Best Cards for Paying Taxes Right Now
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (annual fee of $395)
- This card earns 2x miles on tax payments and is best for high-spend travelers as it earns up to 10x points on Capital One Travel purchases, including hotels, rental cars, flights, and vacation rentals.
- Platinum Card® from American Express (annual fee of $895 (rates & fees))
- This card earns 1x points on tax payments and is best for frequent travelers who could use a large tax payment to meet the minimum spending requirement to unlock the highest possible welcome offer.
- Citi Double Cash® Card (annual fee of $0)
- This card offers simple 2% cash-back earnings on tax payments (1% when you buy and another 1% when you pay).
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (annual fee of $95)
- This card earns 2x miles on tax payments and is best for those who want to maximize miles earning without paying a high annual fee.
- Chase Freedom Unlimited® (annual fee of $0)
- As it offers up to 5% cash-back on purchases — with a maximum of 1.5% on taxes — this card is best for those who prefer cash over points, and it is only 1 of 3 cards in our featured list that doesn’t have an annual fee.
Does It Make Sense To Pay Taxes With a Credit Card?
Paying your taxes with a credit card usually incurs a processing fee. In 2026, the fee ranges from 1.75% to 2.95%, with higher fees for American Express, business, and debit cards, depending on the processor (Source: IRS). It only makes sense to pay your taxes with a credit card if you’re receiving value beyond the cost of those fees.
Paying taxes with a new card could help meet minimum spending requirements for a welcome bonus offer. A welcome offer could be worth hundreds, even thousands, of dollars, which offers more value than what you’d pay in fees.
A large tax payment can also help you reach spending thresholds for elite status or benefits with airline credit cards and hotel credit cards. Those benefits could outweigh the processing fees.
It might not make financial sense to carry a credit card balance to pay taxes. Additionally, some cards, such as those offered by Bilt, don’t earn rewards on tax payments.
Best Credit Cards for Paying Taxes: Full Comparison
|
Card |
Personal or Business |
Annual Fee |
Welcome Offer |
General Spending Earning Rate |
Best For |
|
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card |
Personal |
$395 |
75,000 milesCapital One Venture X Rewards Credit CardEarn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel. |
2x Capital One miles |
Maximizing miles earning on general spend |
|
Platinum Card® from American Express |
Personal |
$895 |
As High as 175,000 Points. Find Out Your Offer.Platinum Card® from American ExpressYou may be eligible for as high as 175,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $12,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary, and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount — all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted. |
1x Membership Rewards points |
High welcome offer |
|
Citi Double Cash® Card |
Personal |
$0 |
$200 cash backCiti Double Cash® CardEarn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back. |
2% cash-back on all purchases (1% when you buy and another 1% when you pay) |
Simple cash-back |
|
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card |
Personal |
$95 |
75,000 milesCapital One Venture Rewards Credit CardEarn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel. |
2x Capital One miles |
Maximize miles with a lower annual fee |
|
Chase Freedom Unlimited® |
Personal |
$0 |
$200Chase Freedom Unlimited®Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening |
1.5% cash-back |
Flexibility to use rewards as either cash-back or converting to points |
|
Chase Sapphire Reserve® |
Personal |
$795 |
100,000 pointsChase Sapphire Reserve®Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. |
1x Chase Ultimate Rewards points |
High bonus points earning on travel |
|
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card |
Personal |
$95 |
75,000 pointsChase Sapphire Preferred® CardEarn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. |
1x Chase Ultimate Rewards points |
Premium card with a low annual fee |
|
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express |
Business |
$895 |
NEW OFFERAs High As 300,000 Points. Find Out Your Offer. The Business Platinum Card® from American ExpressAs High As 300,000 points. Find Out Your Offer. You may be eligible for as high as 300,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $20,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. |
2x Membership Rewards points on eligible purchases of $5,000 or more |
Highest welcome offer of any card |
|
Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card |
Business |
$0 |
OFFER ENDING SOON |
1.5% cash-back |
Highest welcome offer for a cash-back card |
Which Taxes Can You Pay With a Credit Card?
Most personal and business taxes can be paid by card, including federal taxes and quarterly estimated tax payments. State and local income taxes and property taxes often accept credit cards as payment, too. A notable exception is federal tax deposits for payroll or employment taxes. The fees imposed vary by jurisdiction for state and local taxes.
How To Pay Your Taxes With a Credit Card
The IRS uses 2 authorized vendors to facilitate federal tax payments and ensure they are deposited with the IRS:
- Pay1040 charges a 1.75% fee for personal credit cards and 2.89% for American Express and commercial credit or debit cards.
- ACI Payments charges 1.85% for personal credit cards and 2.95% for corporate credit or debit cards.
Federal tax payments are limited to 2 payments per quarter for each vendor (Source: IRS).
Best Cards for Paying Taxes: Card Details
Here are a few cards that could provide good rewards when paying your taxes:
Top Pick: Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture X card earns 2 Capital One miles per $1 spent on every purchase, which earns more than the IRS personal payment processing fees.
Paying your taxes with the Capital One Venture X card to earn the generous welcome offer may give you the most value for the expense.
Platinum Card® from American Express
Hot Tip: Apply and find out if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer of as high as 175,000 points with the Amex Platinum. Welcome offers may vary, and you may not be eligible for an offer.
The Amex Platinum card is a premium travel rewards card with luxury travel benefits and perks. Since taxes aren’t a specific bonus-earning category, paying with your card earns 1 Membership Rewards point per $1spent.
Citi Double Cash® Card
The Double Cash card earns 2% cash-back on all purchases (1% when you buy and another 1% when you pay), earned as ThankYou Points.
When paired with a premium ThankYou Points card, such as the Citi Strata Premier® Card, you can transfer your points to Citi transfer partners at a better ratio.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture card earns 2x Capital One miles on everyday purchases, including tax payments.
We value Capital One miles at 1.8 cents each, meaning you’d earn up to 3.6 cents in value for each dollar spent on tax payments.
Chase Freedom Unlimited®
The Freedom Unlimited card earns 1.5% cash-back on tax payments.
If you have a premium Chase Ultimate Rewards-earning card, such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you can transfer your Freedom Unlimited card cash-back to that card as points and may receive more value per point when redeeming for travel.
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
The Chase Sapphire Reserve card and the Freedom Unlimited card pair well for taxes. The Chase Sapphire Reserve card earns 1 Ultimate Rewards point per $1 spent on taxes, but the Freedom Unlimited card earns 1.5% cash-back.
You can use your Freedom Unlimited card to pay your taxes, then transfer the cash-back points to your Chase Sapphire Reserve card to redeem them for more value per point when using travel transfer partners.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card earns 1 Ultimate Rewards point per $1 spent on taxes. You can redeem your points for up to 1.75 cents each in the Chase Travel portal, but you may not receive value beyond the processing fees.
You could receive greater potential value when transferring your Ultimate Rewards points to airline and hotel partners.
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer as high as 300,000 points with the Amex Business Platinum card. Find out your offer. Terms Apply.
The Amex Business Platinum card earns 2x Membership Rewards points on eligible purchases of $5,000 or more and on eligible U.S. purchases in select business categories, up to $2 million per calendar year. If you have a large tax payment, this card earns an easy 2x.
Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
With the Ink Business Unlimited card‘s straightforward earning structure, you earn 1.5% cash-back without an annual fee. Similar to the Freedom Unlimited card, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to premium Ultimate Rewards-earning cards and redeem them for more value.
How We Selected the Best Credit Cards for Paying Taxes
Upgraded Points compared cards based on their welcome offers, earning rates, annual fees, and potential value when used for tax payments. Read more about our evaluation process in our credit card rating methodology.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to paying taxes with your credit card, it needs to make sense financially. It can work when you’re earning a welcome offer on a new card or using a card that earns a flat rate of 2x (or higher). That way, you earn more in rewards than you pay in processing fees.
Check out our comparison table and top picks again before deciding whether paying your taxes with a credit card is right for you.