How to Pay Taxes With a Credit Card in Canada


These services are entirely legitimate and officially recognized by the Canada Revenue Agency. You can use these platforms to make all your tax payments, including federal and provincial taxes, instalment payments, and business taxes.
By using a carefully selected credit card, you can earn attractive cash back or unlock a welcome bonus to earn a significant number of rewards points.
Here are our best strategies to maximize your rewards when paying your taxes by credit card this year.
We recommend using these platforms only in two scenarios:
It is important to know that a payment with Plastiq, Chexy, or PaySimply will be categorized as an other expense by your credit card, which is generally the category that earns the least cash back or rewards.
Therefore, unless your credit card offers you more than 2.49% (PaySimply and Plastiq fees) or 1.75% (Chexy fees) cash back, you will lose money using this service to pay your taxes by credit card.
Let’s now look at the two scenarios in which using PaySimply or Plastiq can be a worthwhile option for you.
To maximize cash back on your tax payments, you will need to pay with a card that:
Here are the credit cards that meet these criteria, provided the spending is eligible toward the welcome bonus requirements:
To see what kind of return you can get on $4,500 in tax payments, let’s use an example with the CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite* Card and the Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite +* Card with Chexy.
By taking advantage of the welcome offers on these two cards, I can:
I would therefore receive a total of $550 in cash back on my tax payments.
Since I will have paid a 1.75% fee (or $78.75) on these two payments through PaySimply, I will get a net return of $471.25 by using these welcome offers to pay $4,500 in taxes.
| Card used | Payment amount | Cash Back | Chexy Usage Fees | Net Cash Back |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite* Card | $2,500 | $250 (10%) | $43.75 (1.75%) | $206.25 |
| Scotia Momentum® VISA Infinite +* Card | $2,000 | $300 (15 %) | $35 (1.75%) | $265 |
Thus, in total, I get a net cash back of 10.47% on an amount up to $4,500 in tax payments with Chexy.
In addition, there will be no annual fees on either of these two cards for the first year!
Here are the details for each of these cards.
The CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite* Card is one of the best cash back Visa credit cards in Canada.
With this offer, get a value of up to $400:
With this CIBC cash back credit card, you get:
For example, if you spend $1,000 a month on groceries, gas and/or electric vehicle charging, you will earn $40 in cash back per month, or $480 in cash back per year with this card in this spending category!
This CIBC cash back credit card offers extensive insurance coverage:
The Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite+* Card is recognized year after year as one of the best cash back credit cards in Canada. Milesopedia even named it the best cash back credit card of 2026.
Right now, thanks to this promotional offer, the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite+ Card has no annual fee for the first year, including on additional cards. You can also earn 15% cash back on all your purchases for the first three months (on up to $2,000 in total purchases).
It also includes a handy new perk for travellers: enjoy 10 GB of free global GigSky mobile data for 15 days, as well as access to Travel Essentials to use essential apps such as messaging, maps and email while you travel. Cardholders also continue to receive 1 GB of free GigSky mobile data per year, plus a 20% discount on future GigSky purchases.
With the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite+ Card, you get:
For example, if you spend $1,000 a month on groceries and/or recurring payments, you will earn $40 in cash back per month, or $480 per year with this card in this spending category. And that’s not counting the other purchases you make with the card or the benefits it offers (including its excellent insurance coverage).
If you rent, for example, you could use the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card on Chexy to pay your rent and earn 4% cash back.
Also note that you can redeem your cash back at any time (your cash back balance must be at least $25).
The other situation in which using Plastiq, Chexy, or PaySimply can be worthwhile is to reach a spending threshold required to unlock a credit card welcome offer.
This can be particularly useful for premium credit cards which often require a significant spending level in the first few months to earn bonus points.
For example, you need to spend $10,000 in three months to get the American Express Platinum Card® and $7,500 in three months for the American Express® Business Gold Rewards Card.
Individuals can also apply for American Express business cards. Here’s how:
Here are other examples of credit cards that require a certain level of spending in the first few months to unlock highly valuable welcome bonuses:
Note that these credit cards include many other benefits in terms of insurance, travel credits, free checked baggage, and much more. Take the time to review them to determine which one will be the most rewarding based on your spending habits and travel goals.
If you are interested in one of these premium cards but find it out of reach because of the spending requirement needed to unlock the welcome offer, your tax payments could help you reach that threshold.
You can also combine this approach with a gift card strategy to help you reach the required spending threshold.
Before moving forward with tax payments, run the numbers to determine whether applying for new credit cards makes sense, and which card is best suited based on the amount you need to pay.
Tax season is never the most cheerful when you owe money. At the very least, by using these strategies with PaySimply, Chexy, and Plastiq, you can earn cash back or rewards points that can help cover part of your next trips.
Ready to try one of these options? Use our tutorials:
Yes, it is perfectly legal. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and Revenu Quebec do not directly allow credit card payments, but they officially recognize third-party providers like PaySimply and Plastiq, who offer this service for a fee.
PaySimply and Plastiq charge a 2.49% fee for tax payments made with Visa, Mastercard, or American Express credit cards.
The best card depends on your goals. For cash back, the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite +* card offers up to 4% on bill payment services, potentially making tax payments worthwhile despite the fees. If you are aiming for travel points or a welcome bonus, Aeroplan cards or American Express cards with substantial welcome bonuses may be more advantageous. Ideally, you should calculate the value of the rewards earned compared to the fees paid.
There is nothing special to indicate on your tax return. Plastiq and PaySimply send your payment directly to the Canada Revenue Agency or Revenu Québec with all your identifying information. From a tax filing perspective, it is the same as paying the government directly. Simply keep the transaction confirmation for your records.
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