Anyone Use Pay1040.com to pay Fed Taxes

[kaneohe]

They are one of IRS approved sites to pay taxes w/ credit card. Fee is 1.87%.......trying to confirm that is all, that it is a purchase and not a cash advance that would incur other fees.

 

[MarieIG]

No, to date, I still send them checks.

Frequently.

 

[Looking4Ward]

I just use this:

https://www.irs.gov/payments

 

[audreyh1]

We use eftps.gov which does an ACH pull.

 

[Jerry1]

I'm sorry, I can blow all sorts of money, but I couldn't stomach 1.87% just to pay my bill. Our property taxes are the same way - they charge you a fee to use a credit card. And, before ATM's became linked to our credit union, I wouldn't pay $2 to get my own money.

I can understand the taxing authorities though. They want 100% of their money. Okay, I'll send them a check. Though, I wish they'd appreciate the savings they'd get from the more efficient processing. Oh well.

 

[W2R]

We use eftps.gov which does an ACH pull.

+1 I do this for my estimated taxes through the year, anyway.

Then when I do my tax return with TurboTax, I have any remaining money that is owed deducted directly from my checking account.

I have never paid taxes using a credit card. I know a lot of people do, but I think that would make me feel terrible - - "as poor as a church mouse", so to speak - - so I just don't.

 

[ERD50]

I'm sorry, I can blow all sorts of money, but I couldn't stomach 1.87% just to pay my bill. Our property taxes are the same way - they charge you a fee to use a credit card. ...

If I can pay with Credit card and get a 3% cash bonus plus float, I'll do that every chance I get. And I do.

-ERD50

 

[W2R]

If I can pay with Credit card and get a 3% cash bonus plus float, I'll do that every chance I get. And I do.

-ERD50

Touché! That's a pretty good reason to pay by credit card.

I still don't want to do it, though. It's just me.

 

[kaneohe]

If I can pay with Credit card and get a 3% cash bonus plus float, I'll do that every chance I get. And I do.

-ERD50

same reasons as you except I only get 2%..........can you confirm that the only charge is the around 2% fee advertised on IRS.gov and that it is the same as a purchase, not a cash advance. btw....what card gets 3%?

 

[ERD50]

same reasons as you except I only get 2%..........can you confirm that the only charge is the around 2% fee advertised on IRS.gov and that it is the same as a purchase, not a cash advance. btw....what card gets 3%?

Oops, sorry, for something like that I'd get 2% on Fid Visa. The 3% Costco card is for restaurants, and 4% on gas, 2% at Costco.

But I'd still do it for convenience and float. Easier to schedule your payments for CC due dates.

Don't know about the fees on the .gov site, but I'd guess that if they say 1.87% w/o any other notes, that's what it is. They tend to be upfront about charges.

-ERD50

 

[audreyh1]

Right - the best I could do is a 2% credit card. So a slight benefit, but to me it’s not enough to bother.

 

[Doribe]

I just use this:

https://www.irs.gov/payments

+1

 

[kaneohe]

.......................................
But I'd still do it for convenience and float. Easier to schedule your payments for CC due dates.

Don't know about the fees on the .gov site, but I'd guess that if they say 1.87% w/o any other notes, that's what it is. They tend to be upfront about charges.

-ERD50

Think I might try it this yr. I was concerned about customer support since, although they brag about 24x7 support, I was only able to get a machine during the wkend and it was unable to answer my questions. It did send me an e-mail message with another customer support number that seemed to be human staffed......made me wait 10 min before I gave up.

However the 2nd number did work this morning w/ a live person who continues to play the party line re: 24x7 support.......which I will be testing this wk and wkend. I do like the float and the differential between cc rewards and the 1.87% fee.........not a huge number but adds up over quarters. Also if I mail a paper return, I can do it soon before the lines form at P.O.and still pay later and get the float.

Since much of the gain is the difference between nearly equal numbers (2.00 - 1.87%) it is highly leveraged. If
I could get cc to increase rewards to 2.13%, I would double part of the rewards. That's why I got excited about your 3.0% .

 

[scrabbler1]

I use the IRS's website to make my estimated tax payment in early January. But I send a paper return with a paper check in April. Same for my state taxes.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

For the first time in my life, I did so this past December using pay1040.com. They have the lowest % cost for credit card payments.

I did so even though I had plenty of money to pay myself. Bank of America was offering 3X on purchases on their Amtrak card. For example, doing a 10K payment would cost $187 and yield 30,000 Amtrak points. Amtrak points are worth 2.6 cents each on typical non-Acela travel. For example, I booked a trip with my child for a sleeper from lower Florida to upstate NY for 20k points, which would be (2/3*)*187 = $125. So for $125 in fees I got enough points for a sleeper for 2 people which includes 6 meals (3 per person), and I paid taxes in 2018 w/o having to pay until early February 2019.

As I stated, this was a first time for me and even with working the numbers I was hesitant...

ETA: Of course, there was more to my analysis. For instance, had I purchased the train using my credit card (BOA Amtrak), I would have spent $520, but would have gotten 1560 Amtrak points from the purchase.

ETA 2: Forgot to mention the $10K spend also got me Amtrak Select status. Which brings up the consideration that this technique might be good IF you are trying to reach a minimum spend or other special deal on the card being used.

 

[ASung90s]

can you confirm that the only charge is the around 2% fee advertised on IRS.gov and that it is the same as a purchase, not a cash advance. btw....what card gets 3%?

I have used the site before, and it's a purchase, not cash advance. That means you can get points/cash-back.

I have the BoA Premium Rewards card which gives, with bonus for Plat-Honor tier BoA clients, 2.625% cash back (1.5 points * 75% bonus). For a payment of, say, $5k in taxes - you'd end up making ~$30 in cash once the points are redeemed.

If you have the credit limit and the ability to pay off immediately, it's basically free money with the bonus of convenience.

 

[freetodream]

I made a one time Visa tax payment to the IRS last August.

Question: The only thing I have is a 1 page copy printed from my computer showing that I made that payment- now when I am doing my 2019 taxes do I just add that extra $money I paid in on the Federal taxes paid line on the 1040 form?

 

[scrabbler1]

I made a one time Visa tax payment to the IRS last August.

Question: The only thing I have is a 1 page copy printed from my computer showing that I made that payment- now when I am doing my 2019 taxes do I just add that extra $money I paid in on the Federal taxes paid line on the 1040 form?

Estimated tax payments are still banished to Schedule 3, Line 8. The estimated tax payment I made electronically last month (4th qtr 2019) goes there, then gets copied to Form 1040, Line 18d. This added form and added work was one of the many complaints I made to Tax Advocate Nina Olson which were not acted upon (several were, though).

 

[calmloki]

I made a one time Visa tax payment to the IRS last August.

Question: The only thing I have is a 1 page copy printed from my computer showing that I made that payment- now when I am doing my 2019 taxes do I just add that extra $money I paid in on the Federal taxes paid line on the 1040 form?

Are you suggesting that you want to write off the Visa fee as part of your taxes paid? I don't think that will fly with the IRS.

Good user name for the question though!

 

[Aggie1999]

I've used CC/Paypal plenty of times to pay taxes in order to make money. Discover and Chase Freedom sometimes have 5% cash back for Paypal purchases for their quarterly deal. When that happens, I make an estimated tax payment of $1500 to make ~3%. Also works well if you have a new credit card and are trying to spend X amount to get the signup bonus.


As others have said, all you get is a 1 sheet print out receipt showing you made the estimated payment. It's up to you to remember and add it to your paid taxes at the end of the year.

 

[freetodream]

Thanks aggie99, that's what I was looking for. In the previous posts I missed the fact that all you get is that single piece of paper & then just add those extra federal tax $ paid onto the 1040 tax form.

 

[freetodream]

Scrabber1: To be clear - since I only made a one time payment on a Visa card, do I still need to use the Schedule 3 form in line 8 (& then record amount in 1040 on line 18d) ??

 

[scrabbler1]

Scrabber1: To be clear - since I only made a one time payment on a Visa card, do I still need to use the Schedule 3 form in line 8 (& then record amount in 1040 on line 18d) ??

How you made the estimated tax payment is irrelevant. Whether or not it is a one-time payment is also irrelevant. (My estimated tax payments is also a one-timer.) Schedule 3, Line 8, is where you report it. Before the late 2017 law change, this used to be on Form 1040 next to the line where you report your withholdings via W-2 and 1099. Now, you have to report this one number on a separate schedule and copy it back onto 1040. What a waste.

 

[gerntz]

If I can pay with Credit card and get a 3% cash bonus plus float, I'll do that every chance I get. And I do.

-ERD50

I'd always thought credit card paybacks didn't apply to government transactions.

 

[gerntz]

I'd always thought credit card paybacks didn't apply to government transactions.

OK, see Feds charge 2% to use credit card. Probably why I don't do.

Paper it is - if I owe.