Did you forget to pay your taxes yesterday April 15th? Did you earn points paying your taxes this year?

First off, relax, you did not forget to pay your taxes (yet). This year, the date that matters is April 18th. In fact for the next two years the filing date is later than the 15th. This year, the reason according to WikipediA is:

“Due to Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C. (observed on the weekday closest to April 16), when April 15 falls on a Friday, tax returns are due the following Monday; when April 15 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, tax returns are due the following Tuesday”

So since you still have some time to pay, how are you going to do so? I get emails from folks, not just this time of the year, but all year long about how they can get some help to meet the MQD exempt spend on their Delta AMEX card either to meet the $25,000 yearly spend to be MQD exempt or on their Platinum or Reserve cards for bonus MQMs. There are many ways that work very well that are either creative or just every day spending.

But maybe you don’t have time for all that or you need perhaps something quick, simple and that works. Well then just pay your tax bill with your card (now it helps that you have a tax bill to pay, if not then it may be possible for you to overpay and then perhaps wait for a refund). But having said that look at this. You can pay your taxes for as little as a 1.87% fee. If you happen to have a $30,000 tax bill, and you pay that on your AMEX Reserve card, notice the math:

• 30,000 points for spending $30,000 PLUS you get 15,000 bonus points netting you 45,000 points .
• The 1.87% fee will cost $561 but you get $450 value of points (at just 1 cent each) = $111 net cost.

You can see the results we can get by doing this. We are able to simply take care of the $25,000 Delta MQD elite exempt spend threshold and when we knock out the $30,000 bonus spend AMEX threshold and get both 15,000 bonus Skymiles and 15,000 bonus MQMs that can help you climb to a higher elite level. Since we can, as Delta AMEX card holders, use the pay with miles feature we get at a bare minimum 1 cent value per Skymile so we are getting at a minimum $450 in value back. Thus, our net cost out of pocket is $111 to get this done this way.

Now I am NO tax expert. I am giving you NO tax advice. I can tell you I have done this myself in past years as well as my estimated tax payment this past January 2015 so I can confirm this has worked just fine and does count towards the spend as described above. Also, as just one more point to keep in mind, if you are done with your AMEX spend you may want to look at other cards you are trying to meet your spend on. Or, if you happen to have a card that pays you MORE than 2% back, then yes paying this way does help you come out ahead (even if just by a little)! – René

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Editorial Note: This content is not provided by American Express. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express.