Originally Posted by
skofarrell
Tax payments have never been treated as a cash advance.
Amex even advertises on the site:
https://www.officialpayments.com/so_...tus=incomplete
From their FAQ:
4. Will my payment be processed as a purchase or cash advance transaction?
Your payment will be processed as a purchase transaction.
I'm not surprised. Chase doesn't treat it as a cash advance with its UA MP Visa card either. But what about a card like the Schwab one that gives a cash rebate, not miles or points? I still wonder if between them the issuing bank and officialpayments.com split 2.49% between them and rebate 2% of the total, about 2.01%, netting only 0.48% for advancing the IRS its money 100 cents on the dollar and waiting for the customer to pay that 2.49%, hoping that the customer does not default on his/her obligation to pay the credit card debt.