4 ms·

I paid ~$100 to file my taxes this year. At the end they said because I had one particular form that I couldn't file electronically, and I would have to send it

I paid ~$100 to file my taxes this year. At the end they said because I had one particular form that I couldn't file electronically, and I would have to send it in. So I had to print everything out, write checks, package everything up, visit the post office, and check that the letters arrived. I still had to pay full price of course.

dheera 3y ago
Pro tip: If you have a tax bill over a few thousand dollars, sign up for some credit cards with big fat bonuses just to pay the taxes, and you can easily make up the $100. When the system of {government, financial institutions, credit cards, etc.} sucks, shove it back to the system. Obviously, calculate whether it really works out in your favor with the credit card payment fees, but in many cases it will.
- throw9away6 3y ago
  If you pay taxes with a card the processor charges a fee. You won’t come out ahead
  - pb7 3y ago
    The credit card fee is around 1.9% (e.g. Pay1040), most credit cards will fall somewhere between 1-2% cash back which will make up for the fee alone without even considering the sign up bonus. Example: Chase Ink Unlimited[0] has a 75K points ($750 at minimum, more if you have a Preferred or Reserve to transfer to; was a 90K/$900 offer up until tax time this year) bonus and 1.5% cash back. It's free (untaxed!) money to pay your taxes. https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/unlimited https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/unli...
    - jimbob45 3y ago
      PSA: There are helpful websites[0] that can enable you to quickly compare credit cards to determine which fits your lifestyle best. [0]https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/credit-cards/cash-back https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/credit-cards/cash-back
  - dheera 3y ago
    Nope, not so fast. Do your research before making claims, please. For example, if you have to pay $15K in taxes, you can sign up for a Chase Ink Business Preferred card, pay the $15K+1.85% = $15277, get the 100K bonus + 1X points on the $15277, which puts you at 115277 points, which is worth 1.25x in travel, which puts you at $1440 worth of air tickets or $1152 worth of cashback. Subtract the $277 extra you paid, subtract the $95 annual fee for one year (before which you'll cancel the card of course), and that leaves you with a net return of $1068 in air tickets or $780 in cash. There are quite a few other cards that you can come out ahead in as well, depending on how much tax you owe. And yes, I did this.
- aynyc 3y ago
  This is what we called premature optimization. If you owe big money on taxes, spend your energy and effort to figure out how to reduce that, not on credit card points.
  - pb7 3y ago
    They’re not mutually exclusive. A W-2 employee has very few ways to reduce taxes and no amount of energy or effort will change that.
    - aynyc 3y ago
      If you are on w2 and owe big taxes, then you are intentionally under withholding. Unless you won IPO or buyout jackpot, then spend your time planning your retirement, not credit card churn (unless that’s your plan all along).
      - pb7 3y ago
        >then you are intentionally under withholding What’s wrong with that? You can pay estimated quarterly taxes with a credit card too. Many churners do.
        aynyc 3y ago
        Nothing wrong with churning, but it's not within the context of this post. Your goal is to churn, tax happened to be one of the venues. But for most people, churning is the wrong approach because their taxes are the biggest issue.
        pb7 3y ago
        If you have legal strategies for avoiding paying 6 figures in taxes ever year, I'm all ears.
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
      - 3y ago
- nocsi 3y ago
  Why don’t you do that for capital gains too? Instead of paying the IRS, turn that into a tax bill then opt into the tax payment plan.
  - dheera 3y ago
    Tax payment plans don't give you sign-up bonuses, and they also charge interest.

dheera 3y ago

Pro tip: If you have a tax bill over a few thousand dollars, sign up for some credit cards with big fat bonuses just to pay the taxes, and you can easily make up the $100. When the system of {government, financial institutions, credit cards, etc.} sucks, shove it back to the system. Obviously, calculate whether it really works out in your favor with the credit card payment fees, but in many cases it will.

throw9away6 3y ago
If you pay taxes with a card the processor charges a fee. You won’t come out ahead
- pb7 3y ago
  The credit card fee is around 1.9% (e.g. Pay1040), most credit cards will fall somewhere between 1-2% cash back which will make up for the fee alone without even considering the sign up bonus. Example: Chase Ink Unlimited[0] has a 75K points ($750 at minimum, more if you have a Preferred or Reserve to transfer to; was a 90K/$900 offer up until tax time this year) bonus and 1.5% cash back. It's free (untaxed!) money to pay your taxes. https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/unlimited https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/unli...
  - jimbob45 3y ago
    PSA: There are helpful websites[0] that can enable you to quickly compare credit cards to determine which fits your lifestyle best. [0]https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/credit-cards/cash-back https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/credit-cards/cash-back
- dheera 3y ago
  Nope, not so fast. Do your research before making claims, please. For example, if you have to pay $15K in taxes, you can sign up for a Chase Ink Business Preferred card, pay the $15K+1.85% = $15277, get the 100K bonus + 1X points on the $15277, which puts you at 115277 points, which is worth 1.25x in travel, which puts you at $1440 worth of air tickets or $1152 worth of cashback. Subtract the $277 extra you paid, subtract the $95 annual fee for one year (before which you'll cancel the card of course), and that leaves you with a net return of $1068 in air tickets or $780 in cash. There are quite a few other cards that you can come out ahead in as well, depending on how much tax you owe. And yes, I did this.
aynyc 3y ago
This is what we called premature optimization. If you owe big money on taxes, spend your energy and effort to figure out how to reduce that, not on credit card points.
- pb7 3y ago
  They’re not mutually exclusive. A W-2 employee has very few ways to reduce taxes and no amount of energy or effort will change that.
  - aynyc 3y ago
    If you are on w2 and owe big taxes, then you are intentionally under withholding. Unless you won IPO or buyout jackpot, then spend your time planning your retirement, not credit card churn (unless that’s your plan all along).
    - pb7 3y ago
      >then you are intentionally under withholding What’s wrong with that? You can pay estimated quarterly taxes with a credit card too. Many churners do.
      - aynyc 3y ago
        Nothing wrong with churning, but it's not within the context of this post. Your goal is to churn, tax happened to be one of the venues. But for most people, churning is the wrong approach because their taxes are the biggest issue.
        pb7 3y ago
        If you have legal strategies for avoiding paying 6 figures in taxes ever year, I'm all ears.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - 3y ago
nocsi 3y ago
Why don’t you do that for capital gains too? Instead of paying the IRS, turn that into a tax bill then opt into the tax payment plan.
- dheera 3y ago
  Tax payment plans don't give you sign-up bonuses, and they also charge interest.