Credit Cards

[charyot77]

I'm helping a relative who's behind on bills pay a small county tax (under $200) but I've heard that using your credit card to pay taxes sends a red flag.

Does anyone know if this is true?

I would like to start using my rewards card to pay for things and the AMEX card is the first to come, however, I dont want to get put on their radar!

[GregB]

I pay property taxes, state sales tax, business taxes, etc. on CC about half the time. Recent charges of about $3K and $4K. Never had an issue.

I might wonder about Amex though. I can't recall using Amex for those since I don't think any of them accept Amex.

[Uborrow-Upay]

Ditto to GregB.

[jamesdwi]

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charyot77 wrote:

I'm helping a relative who's behind on bills pay a small county tax (under $200) but I've heard that using your credit card to pay taxes sends a red flag.

Does anyone know if this is true?

I would like to start using my rewards card to pay for things and the AMEX card is the first to come, however, I dont want to get put on their radar!

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The rumors weren't about taxes, a fixed expense, and is probably considered a good thing,  it was about paying lawyers. Because its a sign of bad things to come. Divorce, Lawsuits, Bankruptcy, etc.  things that make creditors see you as a risk, AMEX is apparently very picky about those type of charges and want to find out what is going on and likes to F/R people because of those charges. 

[snowkitty]

I don't know if this is something you want to do but I was approved for the paypal company bill me later credit line and I saw an option on there to pay taxes online. I'm new to this but thought I'd add my 2 cents

[ComputerWizMaster]

I would charge it without hessitation. There are no published rules on what causes a FR from Amex and only speculation based on a handful of experiences. Even outside of the risk of a FR any card can be closed at anytime with no reason given. With that in mind I keep a stable set block of cards I use without worry.

The Amex FR only seems to be a worry to me if you lied on your application to them by overstating your income.

[Jazzzy]

The only reason we don't pay our $5k county real estate taxes each year on a credit card is that the county charges a 3% "convenience fee" to do so. Otherwise we'd do it in a heartbeat.

[firesoul453]

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Jazzzy wrote:

The only reason we don't pay our $5k county real estate taxes each year on a credit card is that the county charges a 3% "convenience fee" to do so. Otherwise we'd do it in a heartbeat.

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I hate those fees... I really wanted to pay my 2k college tuition (remainder after loan and scholarships) with a card, but earning 1% cash back definefly doesn't make up for 

their 2.5% fee...

I can understand why, buts its dissapointing.

[charyot77]

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ComputerWizMaster wrote:

I would charge it without hessitation. There are no published rules on what causes a FR from Amex and only speculation based on a handful of experiences. Even outside of the risk of a FR any card can be closed at anytime with no reason given. With that in mind I keep a stable set block of cards I use without worry.

The Amex FR only seems to be a worry to me if you lied on your application to them by overstating your income.

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the Amex FR is a worry to me because I work abroad.  Getting documents together is a pain because there is no one at home who can really do it for me. I also get my mail sent to me periodically, so unless the FR letter is sent by electronic correspondence I would have no idea it's happening.