Should You Pay Taxes With a Credit Card in 2025?

Wait, Paying Taxes With a Card Might Be Cheaper Than You Think

Wait, paying taxes with a credit card and coming out ahead? Yep, it can happen. It’s counterintuitive, and it’s not for everyone, but in 2025 the math sometimes breaks your way. Between generous card sign-up bonuses and the relatively low IRS card-processing fees, you can turn a painful tax bill into a net win, if you’re disciplined and pay in full. If you carry a balance, though, it backfires. Hard.

Quick reality check on that last point. In 2024, multiple surveys showed roughly half of U.S. cardholders revolved month-to-month; Bankrate put it at 49% in 2024. If that’s you, this strategy usually hurts because credit card APRs are still high. The Federal Reserve reported that average APRs on accounts that pay interest were above 22% in 2024. So if you don’t zero out the statement after your tax charge, the interest can swamp any rewards. No cute hacks around that.

Here’s the hurdle to clear: the IRS-approved payment processors typically charge around 1.82%-1.98% to use a credit card. That range comes straight from the IRS list in 2023-2024 (think PayUSAtax ~1.82%, Pay1040 ~1.87%, ACI Payments ~1.98%). Your rewards, points, miles, cash back, or a sign-up bonus, have to beat that fee after taxes and after any annual fee calculus you’re doing. If your card earns a plain 2% cash back and you pay 1.87% to process, fine, you’re netting ~0.13% before considering any redemption friction. On a $12,000 tax bill, that’s only about $16. Not exciting. But that’s not the real play in 2025.

The real play is timing a new-card bonus to your tax payment. Big tax bills compress spend into a single transaction, which is exactly what signup bonuses are designed for. A card that offers, say, 80,000 points for $4,000 in three months or 150,000 points for $6,000 in three months can overwhelm a 1.9% fee if you redeem well. Even if you value points conservatively, like 1.2-1.5 cents each, those bonuses can be worth $480-$2,250 on spend that cost you under 2% to process. That’s why Q4 2025 year-end planning matters: quarterly estimates, final withholding adjustments, and extension payments can line up with a bonus window. Timing is everything.

I’ll say this the way I say it to clients, and to myself when I’m tempted by shiny offers. This is not about being clever. It’s about doing boring math and being honest about your behavior. If you pay in full, have a bonus you can actually hit, and can redeem at a solid value, then yes, paying taxes with a card can be profitable. If you don’t? It’s an expensive mistake that shows up on your statement in 30 days.

So what will we cover next? A simple framework for “should-i-pay-taxes-with-a-credit-card” decisions in 2025: when the numbers pencil out, which cards and bonuses pair well with IRS fees, how to avoid redemption traps, and the scenarios where this strategy absolutely doesn’t work, like when cash flow is tight or your APR is nasty. We’ll walk through real examples, the processor nuances, and a few Q4 tactics I’ve used myself after two decades watching people either squeeze value from their taxes… or pay for the privilege of trying.

How Paying the IRS With a Card Actually Works

Here’s the plain-English version. You don’t pay the IRS directly with your Visa, Amex, or Mastercard. You pay through an IRS-approved processor, names you’ll see on IRS.gov like ACI Payments, Pay1040, and payUSAtax. They swipe your card, tack on a convenience fee, and forward your tax payment to the IRS. The IRS lists the current providers and fees on its site and updates that page, so I always check it before I send a big payment. Fees move around a bit.

About those fees. They’re a percentage plus a tiny flat charge. The IRS’s public listing in 2024 showed fees generally in the ~1.8%-2.0% range, plus a small flat amount (usually under $3) depending on the processor. You pay that on top of your tax. So if your bill is $8,000 and the fee is 1.85%, you’ll see roughly $8,148 before any rewards even enter the chat. That’s the math anchor. Rewards have to beat that hurdle, or it’s just expensive points.

Limits matter. The IRS caps how many card payments you can make per tax type and per period. It’s not the same across everything. Balance-due payments, extensions, and estimated taxes can have different caps. Historically (as posted on IRS.gov in 2024), most 1040 card payments were limited to two per filing period; estimated payments had their own per-quarter count. That can change, and sometimes the cap is per processor, sometimes total, so, yeah, check the current IRS page for your exact situation before you slice a big bill into multiple swipes. I’ve seen folks plan a five-swipe strategy and hit a wall on swipe three.

Timing and the paper trail. When you submit online, the processor gives you a timestamped confirmation number immediately and emails a receipt. The IRS posts the payment after the processor settles it, often within 1-3 business days. Keep every confirmation. If you ever get an IRS notice (or need clean year-end records), those numbers save you time and blood pressure. Small note for Q4: if you care about which calendar year your card statement reflects the charge, say you want the spend to land in December for a bonus, watch your statement close date and the settlement lag.

What shows on your statement? Usually two line items from the processor, not the IRS: one for the tax amount, another for the convenience fee. The merchant description typically includes the processor’s name (e.g., ACI, Pay1040, payUSAtax) and a government/tax notation. Issuers code these as a government services purchase in most cases. It’s rarely treated as a cash advance, but I still check my card’s terms and set a $0 cash-advance limit, belt and suspenders. Category bonuses generally don’t apply here; it’s almost never “travel” or “online services.” Plain purchase.

State taxes? Similar setup. Many states take cards with convenience fees in the same ballpark (again, roughly 1.8%-2.5% and a small flat charge, based on typical public listings in 2024). But rules vary by state and sometimes by processor, some states route you to their own portal, some to the same national processors. If you’re stacking estimated payments for both federal and state, double-check each set of limits and fees. The mismatches get people, me included… once.

Quick checklist, so you don’t learn this the hard way:

• Use an IRS-listed processor (ACI Payments, Pay1040, payUSAtax). Link comes right off IRS.gov.
• Confirm the fee right before paying; rates shift. In 2024, public IRS listings showed ~1.8%-2.0% + a small flat fee.
• Run the math: $8,000 at 1.85% = $148 fee, before rewards. If your points are worth 1.5%, you’re underwater.
• Respect the payment-count limits by tax type/period. Don’t assume you get unlimited swipes.
• Save the confirmation email/number and the PDF receipt. Audit protection and year-end sanity.
• Watch statement timing in Q4 if you’re chasing a bonus that ends this year.

Bottom line: processors handle the charge, you pay a percentage plus a tiny flat fee, limits apply, and the IRS posts after settlement. Boring mechanics, important mechanics.

The Math Test: Rewards vs. Fees (and When You Actually Profit)

Here’s the clean baseline. If your card earns 2% cash-back and the processor fee is about 1.85% (public IRS listings in 2024 showed roughly 1.8%-2.0% plus a tiny flat fee, confirm today’s rate before you tap), you net about 0.15% on the charge. That’s $1.50 on $1,000. Before any tax considerations on rewards (most issuers treat rewards as purchase rebates, but I’m not your CPA). It “works,” but it’s barely worth the keystrokes unless you’re chasing something bigger.

Travel points are a different animal. If you value points at about 1.5¢ each and you earn 2x on the tax payment, that’s roughly 3% value on the charge. Against a 1.85% fee, your spread is ~1.15%. On a $4,000 tax payment, that’s about $46 net positive. But (and this is the big but ) only if you actually redeem near 1.5¢/point. If you’re cashing out at 1.0¢ through a portal, your 2x looks like 2%, which falls back to the tiny 0.15% spread and you’re back to… meh.

Welcome bonuses are where credit cards earn their keep. A pretty common headline right now is something like 60,000 points for $4,000 spend. Value ranges a lot by program and year, but a plain-vanilla band is $600-$900 (again, that depends on how you redeem, airline partners vs. statement credit is a night and day swing). Paying a $4,000 tax bill with a 1.85% fee costs $74. If that payment helps you hit the bonus, your net can be $526-$826 ($600-$900 − $74) before card annual fees. That’s real money, and it’s why people do this.

Q4 2025 tactic: two-bucket spending. If you’re running tight on calendar, use the tax payment to complete a minimum spend now, then let holiday purchases stack category multipliers later this year (groceries, online retail, airfare, whatever your card boosts). Just don’t miss your due date or statement cutoff. I’ve cut it too close before, earned the points but posted to the next cycle, which pushed the statement credit into January. Annoying, avoidable, and totally on me.

Here’s the quick math I use on a back-of-the-envelope (probably the envelope my quarterly vouchers came in):

Breakeven shortcut: Net value = (Rewards % × Tax Bill) + (Welcome Bonus Value if triggered) − (Processing Fee % × Tax Bill). If Net value ≤ 0, don’t do it.

Three fast examples, rounding a tad because life isn’t a spreadsheet:

• 2% cash-back, no bonus, $4,000 bill, 1.85% fee: Rewards $80 − Fee $74 = $6 net. Functionally a tie.
• 2x points worth 1.5¢, no bonus, $4,000 bill: Rewards ≈ $120 − $74 fee = $46 net. Worth it if you’ll redeem well (think saver awards, not random gift cards).
• 60k bonus worth ~$750 on $4,000: Rewards $80 (2% cash-back scenario for simplicity) + Bonus $750 − Fee $74 = $756 net. Even if your bonus is only worth $600, you’re still at $606 net.

A few reality checks I’ve learned the hard way:

1. Redemption value varies wildly. Airline partners can swing from 1.2¢ to 2.0¢+ per point depending on routes and dates. If you’re not going to book travel, use a lower assumed value.
2. Fees change. The IRS page showed ~1.8%-2.0% in 2024; confirm the exact % with ACI, Pay1040, or payUSAtax right before you pay. A tenth of a percent moves the breakeven on big balances.
3. Statement timing matters in Q4. If your bonus requires the spend to post this year, cut yourself a week of slack. Processors can take a day; issuers can take a couple days to post.

Is this overly simplified? A little. I’m ignoring annual fees, opportunity cost of tying up credit, and potential transaction caps by issuer. But for same-month decisioning, the shortcut math catches 90% of the go/no-go. If you can’t clear a positive net with conservative assumptions, don’t force it. There’ll be another bonus later this year, or in January, when you’re not racing the calendar.

The Gotchas: Interest, Utilization, and Your Credit Score

This is where folks get singed. I’ve watched traders, doctors, and, yep, my cousin Avi, all make the same mistakes when they put taxes on plastic. The rewards math looks clean until interest, statement timing, and score mechanics show up. Here’s the messy reality.

• APR risk is real in 2025. The Fed’s hiking cycle kept card rates high last year and they’re still elevated this year. The Federal Reserve’s G.19 data showed average assessed credit card APRs around the 22%-23% range in 2024 (Q4 was north of 22%), and they’ve stayed above 21% for much of 2025. If you revolve even one month, a 2% tax-processing fee can get wiped out fast. On a $8,000 tax charge, one month at 22% APR is roughly $147 in interest, poof goes your 2% cashback ($160) and then some if it slips into a second month. Rewards don’t outrun double‑digit interest. They just don’t.
• Grace period nuance that trips people. To avoid interest, you must pay the statement balance in full by the due date. Not the current balance, not “most of it.” If you carry any prior-cycle balance, you generally lose the grace period and interest starts accruing on new charges. Paying the minimum? That nukes the upside. It’s like earning $150 in points and tipping your bank $200 in interest. I know, brutal analogy, but that’s how it feels in real life.
• Utilization spikes can hit your score temporarily. Credit models don’t love when your utilization jumps over ~30%. A big April or October estimated payment can push a card over that line on the statement date, and the bureau snapshot will reflect it until you pay down. Even if you zero it a week later, the score dip can hang around until the next reporting cycle. If you need your score pristine for a mortgage rate lock later this year, consider spreading the tax payment across two cards or timing right after the statement cuts.
• Avoid cash-advance traps, seriously. Don’t use cash-advance checks or ATM advances to pay taxes. Processors accept regular card payments online; you don’t need the advance. Cash advances often come with a 3%-5% fee, no grace period, and day-one interest at a higher APR. It’s the expensive lane on the highway with potholes. Stay off it.
• Chargeback and receipt reality. Taxes aren’t like retail. You can’t return your 1040. Treat the transaction as irreversible. Save: (1) the IRS/agency confirmation number, (2) the processor receipt showing the fee (e.g., the IRS-approved vendors were around ~1.8%-2.0% in 2024; check the exact % again this year), and (3) your card issuer’s posted transaction screenshot. If a credit is needed, it’ll usually come from an amended filing or agency adjustment, not your card company.

Quick rule: If you can’t commit to paying the statement balance in full, don’t put the taxes on a rewards card. Use an installment plan with the IRS/state or a 0% intro APR card you can actually pay off on time.

One more nuance that’s easy to miss: statement timing in Q4. If your issuer reports right before payday, your utilization can be ugly on paper for a few weeks. It’s annoying, I know. I set calendar reminders to pay a mid-cycle “prepayment” when I’m pushing a large tax charge, just to keep the reported balance under 30% on that card. And if this feels overly complicated, you’re not wrong. Credit cards are designed to be simple when you’re paying in full, and expensive when you’re not.

Bottom line: the math only works if you avoid interest, protect your utilization, and keep pristine records. Miss any one of those, and the points aren’t worth the stress, or the rate you’ll pay for the mistake.

Smarter Alternatives If the Numbers Don’t Work

If the card fee or your APR makes you wince, good, your math radar is working. There are cleaner, cheaper ways to handle taxes that don’t light your cash flow on fire.

IRS payment plans (short-term and long-term)

• Short-term: Up to 180 days. Historically no setup fee, but interest and late-payment penalties keep accruing while you pay. That’s still often cheaper than a 20%+ card APR. The IRS interest rate is the federal short‑term rate + 3%, set quarterly. In 2024 it ran around 8% for underpayments; check the current quarter before you commit. Boring, but cheaper usually beats flashy.
• Long-term installment agreement: Monthly plan if you need more time. As of 2024 IRS fee tables, online setup was $31 for Direct Debit and $130 for non-Direct Debit, with possible low‑income reductions. Fees change by year and how you apply, so confirm this year’s terms on IRS.gov. The big win is cost: single-digit effective rates vs. double‑digit credit card interest.

Direct debit or EFTPS

• Paying the bill directly via Direct Pay or EFTPS carries a $0 processing fee from the Treasury. Record‑keeping is tidy, and the paper trail is IRS‑grade. Is it exciting? No. Is boring good with taxes? Yes, 100%.

0% intro APR cards (with discipline)

• Useful if you need a few months of float and you’re certain you’ll clear the balance before the promo ends. Watch for the fine print: purchase 0% and balance‑transfer 0% are different animals, and balance transfers usually carry a 3%-5% fee. Offers vary by issuer and by year, don’t assume last year’s deal exists today. One rule I won’t bend: set automatic payments to kill the balance at least a week before the promo expiry.

Adjust withholding and estimates

• Were you underpaid in 2025? Fix 2026 now. Update your W‑4 or your quarterly estimates so you’re not back here next spring. It’s not sexy, but future-you will sleep better. I’ve had to do this after a lumpy bonus year, took five minutes, saved me a repeat headache.

Sell low-risk assets instead of paying 20%+ APR

• If you’re sitting on a Treasury ladder or a short-term bond fund, compare the opportunity cost to card rates. Even with Treasury yields in the mid‑4% range earlier this year (they move week to week), that’s still miles cheaper than financing taxes on a card charging north of 20%. For context, Federal Reserve data in 2024 showed the average APR assessed on accounts carrying a balance was around the low‑20s. Paying 4-5% opportunity cost beats 20%+ interest every single time.

Quick gut‑check: Should you prioritize liquidity over cost? Sometimes. If a forced asset sale triggers penalties or a tax lot you really don’t want to touch, then a short IRS plan might be cleaner. But nine times out of ten, the blended cost of an IRS plan or selling Treasuries is less than card interest + processor fees. And yes, I’m aware this is getting a bit spreadsheet‑y. That’s because the nuance matters.

Reality check: Card processor fees for paying taxes typically hover near ~2% and change by year and provider; the IRS publishes the current lineup on its site. If you can’t pay in full by the statement due date, that 2% is just the cover charge before interest shows up.

One more honest note: I don’t have the IRS’s Q4 2025 rate table in front of me as I write this, and these numbers do move quarterly. Before you pick a lane, look up this year’s official interest rate and setup fees on IRS.gov. Two minutes of checking can save you a few hundred bucks. My enthusiasm for due diligence is showing, I know, but it pays.

A Simple Decision Framework You Can Use Tonight

It’s Q4, it’s October, and if you’re on extension you’ve got five days until the Oct 15 filing deadline. So, quick filter, five minutes, yes/no. I use this myself because otherwise I start doing twelve versions of the same calc and.. yeah, it spirals.

1. Will you pay the statement in full? If the answer is anything but a clean yes, don’t put taxes on a credit card. Full stop. Use cash, a debit card, or an IRS plan. Small reminder: the IRS’s short-term plan (up to 180 days) has no setup fee, interest/penalties still accrue, but it’s not a junk-fee situation. For longer plans, the IRS listed setup fees in 2024 as $31 for an online Direct Debit Installment Agreement and $130 for a non-direct-debit online plan (lower or waived for low-income). That’s real money, but it’s usually cheaper than card interest piled on top of processor fees. I know I’m over-emphasizing this, but this is the fork in the road.
2. Confirm today’s processor fee and your rewards math. Card processor rates live on IRS.gov and they move. As a reference point, in 2024 the published credit card fees ranged roughly ~1.82%-1.98% depending on provider. Now do the boring part: if your card earns 2% cash back, you’re barely breakeven before taxes and opportunity cost; if it’s a 3-5% category or a travel bonus you actually redeem at >2 cents per point, maybe it clears. If you’re chasing a welcome bonus, pro‑rate the bonus value. Example: a 60,000‑point offer you realistically redeem at 1.5¢/pt is ~$900 of value; divide by the required spend. If tonight’s tax payment is $4,000 toward a $6,000 requirement, that slice of value is ~$600 (~15%). Subtract the ~2% fee (~$80) and you still have strong net value. If your math doesn’t beat the fee by a comfortable margin, skip it.
3. Check payment limits and timing. Two clocks matter right now: (a) the IRS receipt date must be on or before your deadline (Oct 15 if you extended this year); and (b) your card’s statement cut. If you’re managing utilization for a mortgage refi later this year, you may want the charge to post after statement close or to pay it down before the report date. Also, the IRS limits the number of card payments per tax type; in 2024 guidance, individuals were typically limited to about two card payments per tax period per processor, so plan the split payments carefully.
4. Sanity-check the next 60-90 days of spend (holiday season). Q4 is gift season, travel season, and random‑I‑forgot‑to‑budget‑that season. If you need that spend to hit a bonus in November/December anyway, sure, taxes can front‑load it. But don’t grab a bonus now if it forces you to overspend in late November. I’ve done the “hit the bonus, eat ramen for 3 weeks” thing. It’s… not a strategy.
5. Document everything. Keep the processor’s confirmation number, the fee receipt, and the card statement page that shows the charge and posting date. Save the IRS account transcript later when it updates. Audits love paper trails, and you won’t remember the exact sequence in March. I barely remember what I had for lunch.

Quick market context while we’re here: processor fees tend to sit near ~2% and the value of points depends on how you redeem. In 2024, IRS‑listed card fees ran ~1.82%-1.98%. That’s your hurdle rate. If your real, cashable rewards math doesn’t clear that bar, it’s not worth the swipe.

One last burst of enthusiasm, because the payoff is immediate: check IRS.gov for tonight’s official processor list and fees, check your card’s statement cut in your app, run a 60‑second spreadsheet on rewards vs. fee, and decide. If you can’t pay in full, pivot to the IRS plan. Clean, fast, done. And then go back to your weekend.

Your Move: Run the Numbers, Not the Hype

Be your own CFO for five minutes. Paying federal taxes with a credit card can be smart, but only when the reward math clears the fee and you won’t carry a balance, period. The IRS-listed credit card fees last year (2024) ran about 1.82%-1.98%. Call that your hurdle. If your card’s real, cashable rewards don’t beat that, after accounting for any welcome offer boost, don’t swipe. Use direct debit. Zero drama.

Where folks get tripped up is the welcome-offer glow. I’ve done it too. The trick is to convert points to cash value and compare to the fee on the whole tax payment. Example: say your 2025 bill is $10,000 and the processor fee is 1.86% ($186). Your base card earns 2% cash back = $200. Net +$14. Meh, but positive. Add a welcome offer: spend $4,000, get 60,000 points. If those points are reliably worth 1¢ each, that’s $600 on the first $4,000, or an extra 15% on that chunk. Weighted across the full $10,000, you’ve got $600 (offer) + $200 (base 2% on $10k) = $800 against a $186 fee. Net about +$614. That’s worth a quick spreadsheet.

A couple data anchors so you’re not guessing: the IRS’s published card processor fees in 2024 were typically ~1.82%-1.98%, and debit card fees were flat (roughly $2-$3.95). Rewards must beat that percentage. If you revolve a balance, forget it. Card APRs often sit north of 20% this year, and IRS installment plans charge interest that’s been in the high single digits recently (around 7%-8%, rates reset quarterly). If you’re even slightly unsure you’ll pay in full by the statement due date, don’t use a card, use direct debit or an IRS payment plan instead. The interest will eat any points victory before your next coffee.

Confused about which “value” to use for points? Reasonable question. Answer: use the cash rate you can actually realize in under 30 days without heroics. If your bank lets you redeem at 1¢/point to your checking account, use that. If you reliably book travel at ~1.25¢ and you’re traveling next month, fine, use that, but be honest with yourself. No fantasy redemptions to Bora Bora you’ll never book.

And yep, paperwork matters. Keep the processor confirmation, the fee receipt, and the card statement page with the posting date. Grab your IRS account transcript later when it updates. Audits like tidy stories, and mine too, I don’t remember what I had for lunch, never mind posting dates in March.

Bottom line: match fee versus real reward value, factor any welcome offer, and only swipe if the net is clearly positive, and you’ll pay in full. Otherwise, direct debit or the IRS plan wins.

Tonight’s 10‑minute challenge

1. List your expected 2025 tax bill (estimate is fine).
2. Write your card’s true reward rate you can cash out in days (no aspirational fluff).
3. Pull the current IRS processor fee off IRS.gov (it takes 30 seconds).

• If the net after fee isn’t clearly positive, walk away. CFO you just made a smart call.
• If it’s positive and you’ll definitely pay in full, approve the charge and set an auto‑pay. Then go back to your evening.

If you were literally searching “should‑i‑pay‑taxes‑with‑a‑credit‑card,” this is the playbook. Quick math beats hype, every time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I tell if paying my 2025 tax bill with a credit card actually makes me money?

A: Run the simple math: Net value = (base rewards + signup bonus value) − processing fee − a slice of any annual fee − interest (which should be $0 if you pay in full). IRS-approved fees are roughly 1.82%-1.98%. Example: $6,000 tax at 1.87% costs ~$112. If your card pays 2% ($120), you net ~$8. Meh. Add an 80k-point bonus valued at 1.3¢ ($1,040) and it suddenly makes sense, if you zero the statement.

Q: What’s the difference between using a flat 2% cash-back card vs. chasing a signup bonus for taxes?

A: A flat 2% card barely clears the IRS fee. On $12,000 with a 1.87% fee (~$224), you earn $240 cash back and net about $16. That’s coffee money. A new-card bonus can swing it. Say 150,000 points valued at 1.2¢ ($1,800) plus your base earn (e.g., 12,000 pts ~ $144) minus the ~$224 fee nets roughly $1,720 before any annual fee. That’s real. Caveats: value your points conservatively, include annual fees, and don’t carry a balance, APRs were over 22% in 2024 per the Fed and are still ugly this year.

Q: Is it better to pay estimated taxes quarterly with a card or one big payment in April?

A: Depends on your goal and discipline. Quarterly can be great for stacking multiple signup bonuses because you spread spend across several months, easier to meet multiple minimum-spend windows without forcing artificial purchases. The tradeoff: you’ll pay the ~1.82%-1.98% fee each time, so small payments can dilute your net win if you’re not triggering a bonus. One large April payment concentrates the fee once and can single-handedly hit a big bonus, but it may spike your utilization in that statement period (temporary score dip). You can manage that by paying the card before the statement closes to lower reported balance. Practical stuff: IRS processors historically code these as purchases (not cash advances), but I still set my cash-advance limit to $0 as a safeguard, learned that one the hard way a few years back. Also, the IRS generally limits you to two card payments per tax type per period, which can cap how many times you split things, always check the current IRS page before you plan a multi-payment strategy. And if you’re self-employed, card fees tied to business tax payments are typically deductible on Schedule C; personal federal income tax payment fees are not. Finally, pay in full, no exceptions. Interest at today’s levels nukes the strategy fast.

Q: Should I worry about interest, credit score hits, or cash-advance coding when I put $10k+ to the IRS on a card?

A: Yes, three quick checks. 1) Interest: set autopay-in-full; APRs were above 22% in 2024 and still high in 2025, so don’t revolve. 2) Score: big utilization can ding you temporarily; pay the card before statement close to fix reporting. 3) Coding: IRS processors have coded as purchases, not cash advances, but confirm and set cash-advance limit to $0. Low drama if you plan it right.

@article{should-you-pay-taxes-with-a-credit-card-in-2025,
    title   = {Should You Pay Taxes With a Credit Card in 2025?},
    author  = {Beeri Sparks},
    year    = {2025},
    journal = {Bankpointe},
    url     = {https://bankpointe.com/articles/pay-taxes-with-credit-card/}
}