Here's how to earn credit card rewards while doing your taxes (2024)

Tax season is in full swing. As you file your return, you may consider paying your taxes by credit card. After all, doing so can earn you travel rewards or cash back on your taxes.

Paying taxes with a credit card may not be the best idea for everyone, so you'll first want to determine whether it's a good choice for your situation. Once you've decided paying by credit card is right for you, don't just reach for your rewards credit card that only awards 1 point per dollar or 1% cash back on your purchases. Instead, consider how you can maximize your potential credit card rewards.

Below, CNBC Select goes over some of the best ways to boost your credit card rewards when paying your taxes and explains how you can stack deals for buying tax preparation software to save money and earn rewards.

There are three IRS-approved third-party payment processors for credit card payments. All the processors accept cards from the major credit card networks, including Visa, Mastercard, Discover® and American Express. Each payment processing company charges different fees.

These are the three payment processors and their fees:

• PayUSAtax.com: 1.82% (minimum $2.69)
• Pay1040.com: 1.87% (minimum $2.50)
• ACI Payments, Inc.: 1.98% (minimum $2.50)

Keep in mind that if you pay your business taxes with a credit card, the card processing fees are also tax deductible. However, individuals cannot deduct the fees from their personal tax return.

Having a planned large expense (like a big tax payment) is a great time to apply for a new credit card since most welcome offers require you to spend several thousand dollars to earn the bonus. Many travel rewards credit cards have big sign-up bonuses that can earn you enough points or miles to redeem for an almost-free vacation.

Some top travel rewards cards with the largest welcome offers include the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and The Platinum Card® from American Express. Depending on how you redeem your rewards, you can potentially earn over $1,000 in value from these bonuses if you meet the requirements.

If you're looking for a new business credit card, the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and The American Express® Business Gold Card are worth considering.

If you're not interested in travel rewards, consider opening a new credit card that gives cash back on your purchases and using that card to pay your taxes. If you open a cash-back card that offers a welcome bonus and at least 2% cash back on your purchases, you'll essentially keep some money in your pocket after taking into account the processing fee charged by the payment companies.

Many popular cash-back credit cards also offer promotional 0% APR financing for up to 21 months. Using a 0% APR card can be a smart tax-paying strategy if you need extra time to pay off your bill.

Cards to consider include the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card (earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases), the Citi Double Cash Card (earns 1% back when you purchase and 1% back when you pay) and the Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Card (if you qualify for the highest tier of BofA's Preferred Rewards program, you'll earn 2.62% back, otherwise it's a 1.5% back card).

Business owners looking for a cash-back card can consider The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card, which earns 2% cash back on up to $50,000 per calendar year, then 1%.

If opening a new credit card isn't an option, you can pay your taxes with one of your existing credit cards with a bonus for meeting a high spending threshold. With this strategy, you may earn airline or hotel elite status, airline companion certificates or free hotel night certificates just by using the right card to pay your taxes.

Here are some examples:

• You can earn American AAdvantage Loyalty Points that go toward qualifying for elite status with the Citi®/AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® or the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard. Elite status begins at 40,000 Loyalty Points for Gold status and you earn 1 point per dollar for credit card spending. The Aviator card also earns a companion certificate for one guest at $99 plus taxes and fees each anniversary year when you spend $20,000.

• You can earn 25 Premier qualifying points (PQP) for every $500 in net card spending in a calendar year, up to a maximum of 1,000 PQP with the United℠ Explorer Card. The points can be applied toward qualifying for United Premier status up to and including the Premier 1K level.

• The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card earns a free night certificate when you spend $15,000 in a calendar year. Complimentary Hilton Gold elite status comes with having the card, but you can be bumped up to Diamond elite status by spending $40,000 in a year.

• The World of Hyatt Credit Card comes with a Category 1 to 4 free night certificate given each anniversary year, but you can also earn a second free night by spending $15,000. Complimentary Discoverist status comes with having the card, but you also earn two elite night credits for every $5,000 spent, which can go toward elevating your status to Explorist or Globalist.

If you are preparing your tax return and have decided to buy tax software to help you find all the deductions you may qualify for, be sure to first click through an online shopping portal before making your purchase.

By using a shopping portal, you can earn bonus points, miles or cash back from various rewards or loyalty programs. The bonus points or cash back is in addition to anything you earn from spending on the card itself.

Some examples of shopping portal offers available at the time of this writing include:

• 1,000 Southwest Rapid Reward points for TurboTax through the Southwest Rapid Rewards shopping portal
• 6 American AAdvantage miles per dollar for H&R Block through the American Airlines AAdvantage shopping portal
• 10% cash back for TaxAct through TopCashBack
• Up to 25% cash back or 25 American Express Membership Rewards points for TaxSlayer through Rakuten

You can use a shopping portal aggregator like Cashback Monitor to compare rewards earnings on tax prep software to see which program may offer the highest return. Offers change frequently and sometimes without advance notice, so if you see a high offer, it's best to jump on it. You may also see increased offers the closer we get to the tax filing deadline on April 15.

You can combine, or "stack," the shopping portal rewards with a discount from any card-linked offers you may have. Limited-time card-linked offers, such as Chase Offers, Amex Offers, Citi Merchant Offers and BankAmeriDeals provide savings at select merchants when you link your associated credit card to that offer. They can be found in your online account with the card issuer.

Credit card merchant offers are targeted, meaning the same offer may not be available for everyone with that card, and require enrollment, but here are some tax prep software offers we've seen in the past:

• Amex Offer of spend $500 or more, get $100 on TurboTax Live Small Business Tax Preparation
• Amex Offer of 30% back, up to a total of $60, on your TaxAct purchase
• Chase Offer of $10 cash back on TurboTax when you spend $25 or more, plus get additional savings up to 10% at checkout when you purchase through Chase's link
• Chase Offer of $7 cash back on your TaxAct purchase
• Citi Merchant Offer of 25% back, up to a total of $60, on your TaxAct purchase
• Citi Merchant Offer of $10 back from TurboTax on a purchase of $25 or more, plus extra savings when you purchase through Citi's link

Be sure to add the offer to your credit card before making your purchase and check the fine print for any exclusions.

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Paying your taxes with a credit card is quick and easy, but it's important to take some time to plan how you can maximize your rewards earnings. Some ways to earn more points, miles or cash back during tax season include signing up for a new credit card or using one you may already have that offers bonuses for high spending thresholds. Be sure to only charge what you can pay back in full to avoid paying interest. If not, any interest payments will likely negate the rewards you've earned.

Whether or not you owe any taxes, there are also ways to earn rewards and potentially save a little money if you are planning to purchase tax preparation software.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of financial products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

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