To the point
Here's how to pay your municipal taxes with a credit card. It comes at a cost, but here are our tips for racking up points along the way.
Foreword
Municipal and school taxes represent a significant expense for a homeowner each year. For rewards point enthusiasts, this is your chance to go and unlock welcome bonuses thanks to these expenses.
As always, only use these methods if:
- if you are able to pay your credit card balance in full by the due date (otherwise the interest charged will eat up the premiums you collect)
- take into consideration the fees generated vs. the rewards collected: if your card only earns 1% and offers no welcome bonus, there’s no point in paying fees of 2% or 2.9%. In this case, the two solutions proposed below will not bring you any benefits.
Pay Your Municipal Taxes With Plastiq
Would you like to use a Visa or Mastercard credit card to pay your municipal or school taxes? Plastiq.com offers you this option. By the way, we have written a detailed article on Plastiq.
The fees charged by Plastiq vary depending on the card used. Generally, it is 2.9% for all Visa and Mastercard payments.
Paying your municipal taxes with Plastiq.com using a Mastercard or Visa card is also a good way to unlock the welcome bonus !
For example, the TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card requires you to spend a certain amount over the first six months to unlock its generous welcome bonus. It’s one of the best around!
Pay Your Municipal Taxes With PaySimply
We have written an article that describes how PaySimply works.
PaySimply is highly secure and has been approved by the Canada Revenue Agency, among others (like Plastiq). For Visa, Mastercard and American Express credit cards, the fee is 2.5% of the total bill.
For example, the TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card offers 2 points per dollar for each transaction. Right now, the welcome bonus is 135,000 points if you spend $5,000 within 180 days of opening. What’s more, this card is free for the first year, and you get 4 free admissions to airport lounges starting from April 30, 2025.
So when you subscribe to the TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card and paying $5,000 in municipal taxes via PaySimply with this new card, you’ll get:
- A high welcome bonus with 135,000 TD Rewards points (maximum value of $675)
- 10,000 points ($5,000 X 2 points per dollar) for the expense (a $50 value in travel points)
You’ll receive $725 as a “gift”, which puts into perspective the 2.5% fee paid via PaySimply for this transaction ($125). The net result is $600.
Then, with those 145,000 TD Rewards points, use them to book vacation accommodations through Expedia for TD. And if the cost of that accommodation is $500 or more, you get a $100 Annual Travel Credit to save even more!
Of course, it will always be more profitable to spend that $5,000 in 6 months through other purchases – such as at Costco – but if paying municipal taxes can help you get there faster, why not?
Here are some other interesting Mastercard, Visa and American Express cards to use on PaySimply:
Bottom Line
Why not take advantage of the opportunity to earn points on your municipal tax payments when solutions exist?
Please note that Paysimply or Plastiq purchases charged to a BMO Rewards card do not earn rewards points. For example, with the BMO Ascend® World Elite®*Mastercard®*, you can pay your bill via PaySimply with this card.
However, this expense will not count as an eligible expense for a welcome offer or earn BMO Rewards points.
