$100K for a QUARTERLY payment? Woo! 2 international F trips!

Thanks, though I'm not sure what number you started with, and I know that I never heard a "to speak with a rep" option. (Hitting "0" just kept bringing me back to the start of the automated menu again and again.) I eventually connected by calling 1-800-487-4567, then #1, then #4. This is not one of the numbers listed on their website, though.

This deal has worked great for me and I very much hope they offer it again next year. But I was really frosted to encounter so much difficulty reaching a rep.

There are many promos for double points for tax payments in and around April. What about Sept and quarterly bonuses? Who is offering those?

I don't know about offers good for AA, but the UA one using a their Visa with Official Payments is still out there.

I don't know about offers good for AA, but the UA one using their Visa with Official Payments is still out there.

What procedure have people used if they owe an amount that exceeds the double-miles limit? For example, SPG gives double miles up to $5K and you owe $8K. You charge $5K. How do you pay the remainder with a check or auto-debit? In other words, can you pay taxes with two different forms of payment?

Yes, I've done that many times. You just process your credit card payment the usual way, and submit a check, auto-debit or whatever else is proper, for the balance. The IRS is keeping score on your payments, so when you claim payments of $x, the computers will add up payments from all sources to be sure that you have, in fact, paid $x.

Is yours a "retrospective" question, one looking back to last April 15? I ask because I thought that unlike the UA Visa double miles offer which is good until the end of the year (and which is not capped at $5K), the AmEx SPG one did not extend beyond last April.

(BTW, I am very eager to know if the UA Visa offer will be extended to or repeated in 2007. Anybody know or have a premonition? Was the offer out there in 2005?)

Twas the same deal in 2005.

Thanks for that info, which encourages me to be optimistic that it will be extended/ repeated in 2007. This deal has been a good one for me this past year.

Are you sure that is correct? I think last year's double miles were only for specific dates. Since the double miles for 2006 was announced at the end of 2005 I made a State tax payment on December 30, in order to have the federal deduction in 2005, charged to my MP Visa and did not receive double miles.

Expecting double miles, then not getting them would be painful, especially if a very substantial payment was involved, since miles for 1.245 cpm are appealing, miles for 2.49 cpm aren't. (Actually a little less than 1.245 and 2.49 because there are miles for the "convenience fee" too, but that is pretty close.)

Goodness, this is so true. Check, double check, and triple check the fine print and everything else before you charge big tax payments.

doesnt work for my taxes, but it amazes me this is :legal: :)

Just WHAT amazes you? What post are you replying to?

I have since checked on two options that may benefit others who don't pay estimated taxes:

1) For paper returns: Charge an amount on a credit card and write the confirmation number and amount on the top of the first page of your 1040. Then enclose a check for the remainder.

2) For e-file or paper: Charge as stated above and debit the remainder using a relatively new service called EFTPS. This site allows you to pay taxes online anytime.

In both cases even if you show a tax balance and enclose no money, the IRS computers will match your account number with the prior-received payments and you should not be sent a tax due notice.

Potential Fee Loophole?
 

I read through the thread and did a search for "debit," but am very surprised no one discussed a point about debit cards.

Early in this thread, there's a link to a NYT article on paying taxes by credit card. It reads, "Link2Gov waives the fee for users of debit cards, though such cards rarely have rewards programs. (Link2Gov is at pay1040.com or 888-658-5465."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/04/bu...Ny+M5wruoDbDpQ

I'm about to upgrade my Citi debit card to a Citi Aadvantage Debit Card.
https://web.da-us.citibank.com/popup...age_Debit.html

If the convenience fee continues to be waived in 2007, I could earn miles for my entire tax bill with no convenience fee. The only potential fee is the annual fee for the card (which I think may be waived depending on your relationship with Citi).

Did anyone try this?
Thanks.

Edited to add: I could not find this documented at the pay1040 site and asked them about it. They said this was offered in 2006 by H and R Block, when filing using tax software and making a debit payment through pay1040.com. They won't know until January whether it will be offered again.


(For the record, I could not find this policy documented at the pay1040 site and am waiting for them to respond to my email.)

Thanks

The NYT article considers it "unusual" to have a credit limit of as much as $24K on own's card. Really?

The article explains to those who cannot figure such simple things out for themselves that it is not worth it to pay 2.49 cpm, maybe not worth it at even half that price (1.245 when getting double miles). But this conclusion is base on using the miles for a saver domestic ticket. (A saver domestic ticket for most will require 25K miles, not 24K, and the cost of miles will actually be just be bit less than 2.49 or 1.245, but we won't quibble with the author over such fine points.) It does not consider what miles might be worth to someone who wanted to top off their balance with just a few thousand miles to get them an award, nor does it consider the much greater value of miles when used for a C or F international ticket. That's good, though, since then there won't be more people encouraged to go after the choicest of award seats.

And if you are the type who makes only the monthly minimum payment and flirts with bankruptcy, then maybe the advice offered in this NYT article will be worthwhile. For those who are more sophisticated about FFPs and personal finance, the article is pretty useless, like so much of the personal financial matters offered in the NYT, WPost, and even the WSJ.

And I very much doubt that there is any way to finesse the "convenience fee" when paying taxes by credit or debit card. And I will believe it is possible to use either a credit or debit card without any such fee and earn miles doing so when I see a working model of a perpetual motion machine.

You are mistaken.

Regardless of the inaccuracies of the NYT article, they were correct about the debit card offer. I already confirmed it. Through this H&R Block software offer, you could use pay1040 to put taxes on your debit card and the convenience fee would be waived. If it's offered in 2007, I will definitely switch to H&R Block.

I don't know why you think it's so hard to believe. H&R offered a gift to help win over customers from TaxAct and TurboTax.

Edited to add: Maybe H&R had a limit on the fee-free payment. I didn't ask, but it would address your "perpetual motion" statement.

If H&R Block is eating the cost to win over customers, fine. But what is so wonderful about paying with a debit card? Don't you have to have the money there in your account at the time you pay, so you don't even get the float the comes with a check payment, as well as the record of payment a check gives. With H&R Block or anyone else, DO YOU GET MILES AND PAY NO FEE ("Tax Payment Bonus Thread", and this is the Miles Buzz forum)? If there really is such an offer out there, that is one gives miles and takes no "vigorish," then that in my view would be the equivalent of a perpetual motion machine.

And note, my focus wasn't the minor inaccuracies in the NYT (e.g., 25K for a domestic saver ticket), but the superficiality of the advice offered.

From the link posted above for the AAdvantage debit card, note:
• To ensure that your purchase earns miles, you must press Credit when you authorize the transaction.

So you won't get any miles if you use that card for a debit transaction.

Deleted old message -- source of info proved inaccurate

Have you seen any miles into a FFP (AA?) account with the use of a debit card yet? Can you point me to those threads discussing miles using a debit card, and which (cards and airlines) offer such opportunities?

I would love to find out I was wrong in my skepticism about this. And if I am wrong, I will be most appreciative of you for educating me.

Deleted old message -- source of info proved inaccurate

Now that property tax payments are coming due (at least where I live, the first half is payable by December 10; a hefty late charge applies thereafter), I'm wondering if there are any cards besides the Chase UA Mileage Plus Visa that offer double points/miles (or other bonuses) for tax payments.

(My preference is for earning Hilton HHonors or Starwood Preferred Guest points, as I tend to burn through those faster than through my pile of UA miles.)

I was pondering the same thing but methinks we are "stuck" w/UA, or I may just pay the bill with :eek: check :eek:

Same here,
I am wondering if this is classed as a "Retail" purchase for the Plat Amex double promo, I have 6 different amex cards, and there is also the 1.25 Skymiles per $.

I saw on Fatwallet the 5x miles for some Skymiles accounts but mine is not part of this.

Thinking SPG might be worth the fee as I am saving for a Venice stay and the property taxes have to paid somehow anyway. All big purchases have been going on SPG, but I wish there were more double promos.

JudyJFLA

Unless things have recently changed, tax payments are considered "Retail" purchases and qualify for bonus point promos.

FYI, Official Payments Corp and Amex Business Gold card has had an ongoing promo that offers new cardholders a $200 credit if you pay your taxes online with the new card on their site. See http://tinyurl.com/yx89nv

Help for January, 2007. It looks like the only thing out there so far is for UA with a 2500 mile cap, and not for state taxes, and no longer through Official Payments Corp. I paid 4thQ IRS in Dec, 2006, so I'm fine there, but 4thQ California, which I need to make Monday, it looks like I'm SOL. Starwood has its bonus posted, but eff. 3/1, and Alaska Visa has nothing yet.

Am I missing something?

See this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...=1#post7011062

I'm reviving this - anything yet available for 4thQ 2007 ES and 2007 1040 (and state returns)? (I have a partial payment to make on the state prior to 12/31). Of particular interest are:
UA Visa
AS Visa
SPG AX

Thanking you for reviving this thread. It may not be a relevant question for me this year, since my accountant says it is not likely that he will direct me to accelerate any state tax payments in order to reduce my 2007 liability, but when we get past 12/31 and into '08, I will be eager to pay taxes with either UA Visa (especially!) or SPG Amex (unfortunately, has been capped at very low level." (Not eager to pay taxes, but eager for the opportunity to pay thoses taxes I owe with a credit card that gives me lots of miles at a resonable net price, e.g., <1.25 cpm and get 5K of EQM for going >$35K with the UA Visa card.

I haven't started look yet myself, and unfortunately, we have never known what they will offer very far in advance. (And be wary, since it is always possible they will change the fine print and you will not getting what you were expecting. Absolutely terrible if you get some miles at 1.25 cpm, then because you did appreciate when the cap took effect and wound up acquiring great many miles at 2.5 cpm.) When someone spots the first of the bank card announceement, please report it here, so I can read what they say, scrutinizing it very closely. (And in the meantime, hope that they will renew the pay-your-taxes with your credit card offers.)

Check out http://www.chasepayyourtaxes.com/ind...&offerID=86249. It looks to be good for payments through 12/31.

Thanks. Some comments apropos what is there:

- Again, for reasons that aren't clear to me, Chase doesn't seem to get it, or they don't care, that their customers might like to know what opportunities there will be through out the year to use this payment means. (I suppose the means are always there, but as I have said several times before, I have no interest in "buying" miles at 2.49 cpm, I am eager to buy them at 1.245 cpm, however.) So they go on opening and closing the window at different times, with different T&C (different caps) when they do.

- Again, Chase declines to make unequivocally clear what the cap is on the double miles offer. "The maximum reward accumulation for this promotion is 10,000 miles." Does that mean if one uses the card to pay $5K in taxes, they will hit the limit on "double miles" (5K of RDM for the $5K of taxes paid + 5K of "bonus"/"double miles" out of the deal, meaning a net cost of 1.245 cpm in "convenience fee."), or does one hit the limit when they pay $10K of taxes, giving them 20K RDM in the end? Why can't they state the T&C so that there can be no confusion about this critical detail of the offer? (I will look back at previous posts here, then use the secure messaging feature to ask Chase for an answer I can "bank" on.)

If one can get 20K of RDM per card with this, that is worth the effort to me; if only 10K, still worth the trouble, but less so. Too bad we don't know what is coming in 2008, e.g., will the offer be there, and with what, if any cap, for first quarter of 2008 and for 2007 taxes due 4/15/08. Why keep us guessing?

Hey, what gives! This link worked a couple of weeks ago and was supposed to run through 12/31/07. I was going to pull the trigger now, but instead of the pay your taxes and get double miles offer, there is just a "coming soon" teaser?!:mad:

Well, taxes are done and I owe a boatload this year. C'mon Chase (or anyone else), make it a good one to ease the pain.

Hmmm, not looking good for what has been a most excellent way to accrue large numbers of UA miles, that is the Chase Visa "double miles" for tax payments option. The offer has run on-and-off over the past 2 years, sometimes with caps and sometimes without (the greatest!!!) It was on the website (see "payyourtaxes" link below) for the 4th quarter of 2007 and supposed to be through 12/31/07, but then it disappeared on or before 12/30/07, with only an invitation on the webpage to "come back soon." Today, the "pay your taxes" deal there is no deal at all, just the "opportunity" to use the credit card to pay taxes with a 2.49% "convenience fee." Thanks, but no thanks.

Yesterday, I was on the phone with a Chase CSR who seemed well-informed and said that in 2008 it was likely that Chase would target henceforth their "double miles" for tax payment offers. If this non-BIS mileage opportunity with the card goes away, the card will be a lot less valuable to me.

pay your taxes 2008
 

Well, here we are in 2008 and Tuesday (January 15) is the due date for quarterly tax payments, and no double-miles for paying your taxes from Chase. (No one has received a target offer, have they?) I believe one was in place this time, though won't swear to it at the moment. (Maybe scrolling back in this lengthy thread will tell me whether that was or wasn't the case one year ago.)

The question is whether the offer will be repeated for the big tax date, that is April 15. I imagine that if there is to be one, and again, I earnestly hope there will be, Chase will announce it no more than a month from now, that is by mid-February, or March 1 at the latest.

Miles at 1.245 cpm may not be quite as wonderful as manna from heaven, but it is pretty good, and I will miss the opportunity terribly if it goes away.

I have been scrolling around and searching the couple of CCs I'd want to use, and can't find anything. Unfortunately for me, my 4th Q ES is my big payment this year, not the 1040 payment in April.

If you'd accelerated the payment and made it prior to 12/31/07, you could have had 10K + 10K with the Chase card before you capped out on the double miles. Now, those of us who are afficianados of this mile-earning opportunity, as I trust I have made clear that I very much am, must wait to see what happens next. Will they announce an offer, hopefully uncapped, for April 15th or not? If they don't do it for that big date, then I think happy days are gone for most of us. (Maybe they will target some. Would like to know if anyone gets a targeted offer.)