Questions and Answers

Ben,

I recently read your article here:
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2017/03/09/should-you-pay-your-taxes-by-credit-card/[/URL]

Am interested in seeing what your opinion is, given the following:
1) I currently have Chase Sapphire Preferred & Chase Freedom
2) I owe roughly $9,000 in IRS taxes this year
3) I was looking at applying for the Chase Unlimited Freedom to pay those taxes

Based on those factors, what is your opinion on CUF (Ultimate Rewards return + signup bonuses) vs. Pay1040.com fees?

I also currently have a Barclay Arrival Plus.Or is there an even better card out there to do this with?

Thanks!

Ben,

I recently read your article here:
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2017/03/09/should-you-pay-your-taxes-by-credit-card/[/URL]

Am interested in seeing what your opinion is, given the following:
1) I currently have Chase Sapphire Preferred & Chase Freedom
2) I owe roughly $9,000 in IRS taxes this year
3) I was looking at applying for the Chase Unlimited Freedom to pay those taxes

Based on those factors, what is your opinion on CUF (Ultimate Rewards return + signup bonuses) vs. Pay1040.com fees?

I also currently have a Barclay Arrival Plus.Or is there an even better card out there to do this with?

Thanks!

John–between the three Chase cards the Unlimited is the best since it is the only one that will give you more than 1UR per $. The Barclays is a decent alternative but where you put your spend depends on how you value cash vs points and what you need more of.

So:

$9000 means $168.30 in fees. You’d earn 13752.45 Chase UR points (if you pay with the CFU) and can be valued as such:

Straight Cash Back – $137.52
CSP Travel Portal – $171.91
CSR Travel Portal – $206.29
Lucky’s UR Valuation – $233.79

Overall, especially if you want to boost your UR balance a bit, it’s a decent choice. If you’re going to opt for straight cash back though, I’d recommend paying the bill with the CitiDouble Cash card, since its 2% cash back – you’d get $183.36 cash back once you pay the Citi bill.

If the goal is cashback for travel, I’d use the Barclays Arrival Plus that John C already has. I’m a fan of the Citi DC but there is no reason to leave the Barclays rebate on the table in this instance.