Paying income tax with a credit card can be a smart way to earn miles, cashback, or hit spending requirements—but the fees can quickly eat into your returns.
That’s where CardUp promos come in. From time to time, you can reduce the usual ~2.6% fee to around 1.75%, making it significantly more worthwhile.
What Is Cardup?
CardUp is a payment platform that lets you use your credit card for expenses that typically don’t accept cards, such as income tax, rent, or insurance.
Instead of paying directly, your card is charged and the payment is then transferred to the recipient via bank transfer, allowing you to earn rewards on otherwise non-card transactions.
Optimisation Strategy:
New to Cardup? (One-Time New User Promo)
Use code NICHOLASN116 for S$30 off your first payment (optimal payment: S$1154).
- Works for any payment type (rent, insurance, MCST, etc.)
- This effectively makes your first transaction close to free
👉 This is a one-time new user promo — use this first.
Current Promo:
After using your S$30 off, switch to this:
Use code LBTAX26R to enjoy a 1.75% fee on recurring income tax payments
- Valid from 6 April to 12 June 2026
- Limited to 2 redemptions per user
- Valid for new and existing users
- Eligible Cards: Visa and UnionPay only
- No minimum spend, no cap — suitable even for large tax bills
This promo applies to recurring income tax payments, typically aligned with monthly instalments. You can schedule by 12 June 2026 and split your tax bill into up to two recurring payment setups (e.g. May and June) to enjoy the discounted fee on both.
👉 This is a separate promo for tax payments — it cannot be combined with the S$30 code.
Is it Worth it? (Simple Calculation)
Example: Paying a S$1,000 tax bill with a 1.75% fee using UOB PRVI Visa Card at 1.4 miles per dollar card:
Amount x Admin fee = Service Fee
- S$1,000 x 0.0175 = S$17.5 service fee
Amount x (1 + Admin Fee) x Earn Rate = Miles Earned
- S$1,000 x (1+0.0175) x 1.4 miles per dollar = 1,425 Miles
Service Fee / Miles Earned = Cost per Mile
- S$17.5 / S$1,425 = 1.23¢ cost per mile
Cards | Earn Rate | Fee (1.75%) | Miles Earned | Cost per Mile |
UOB PRVI Miles Visa Card | 1.4 miles per dollar | S$17.50 | 1,425 | 1.23 cpm |
DBS Altitude Visa Card | 1.3 miles per dollar | S$17.50 | 1,323 | 1.32 cpm |
Standard Chartered Journey Card | 1.2 miles per dollar | S$17.50 | 1,221 | 1.43 cpm |
👉 If you redeem miles at 1.5–2.0¢+ value, this is generally worth it.
(Note: Amex cards excluded)
Highest Earn Rate Miles Card With Waivable Annual Fee
UOB PRVI Card
Earn 1.4 miles per dollar on local spend and up to 3 miles per dollar on foreign currency spend
4 Priority Pass visits per calendar year
Standard Chartered Journey Card
Earn 1.2 miles per dollar on local spend, 2 miles per dollar on foreign currency spend, 3 miles per dollar on selected bonus categories
2 Priority Pass visits per membership year
Highest Earn Rate Miles Card With Non-Waivable Annual Fee
DBS Vantage Card
Earn 1.5 miles per dollar (or 1.5% cashback) on local spend, 2.2 miles per dollar (or 2.2% cashback) on foreign currency spend
10 Priority Pass visits per membership year
Step-by-Step Guide for Cardup and iPayMy:
How to pay income tax, insurance, rent, helper’s salary etc with credit card using CardUp:
Sign Up for an account
2. Schedule a payment by selecting the relevant payment type
3. Select the recipient (eg. IRAS)
4.Fill out details such as payment amount, choose the card and select “Standard payment“
5. Schedule a monthly recurring payment (more on that later)
6. Key in your IC Number, enter promo code LBTAX26R and click “Continue”:
- For new users, use code: NICHOLASN116 for S$30 off your first payment to maximise your rewards, or if you have large payments, use code “LOBANGSIS” to get discounted 1.79% fee on up to S$5K on your first payment with a Visa card
7. Submit your documents
- Statement of Account showing your Name, NRIC, Outstanding balance and Date of outstanding balance
After all that, you’re good to go!
- Some photos and Information are from cardup.co
Your dashboard will show the scheduled payments like this:
Payment Setup Requirements:
To qualify for the promo, the following conditions must be met when setting up your payment:
- Eligible payment window: 7 May – 17 June 2026
- Scheduled at least 3 business days before the due date
- Enter the promo code LBTAX26R during setup
- No overpayment allowed. Payment must strictly match your IRAS Notice of Assessment (NOA) or Statement of Account (SOA).
Important Notes:
If you’re currently on GIRO, do NOT cancel it.
Instead, schedule CardUp payments at least 2 weeks before the deadline to prevent accidental duplicate GIRO deductions
Payment will reflect on myTax Portal after ~3–5 business days from the due date.
Delays are normal — don’t panic if it doesn’t appear immediately.
Promo Exclusions:
The promo will not be valid for:
- (b) Payments made under categories other than income tax (personal or business) are excluded
- (c) Payments scheduled outside the offer period, or with a due date beyond the Last Due Date, will not qualify
- (d) Payments made using Mastercard, American Express, debit/prepaid cards, or credit cards issued outside Singapore are not eligible
- (e) Any additional fees incurred for Next Day payment services are excluded from the offer
- (f) Payments made in foreign currency are not eligible
- (g) The promo cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotions, offers, or discounts
Refer here to see the full exclusion list
Conclusion:
Paying income tax via CardUp can be worthwhile if you’re aiming to earn miles, cashback, or meet card spending requirements. However, the usual processing fee can reduce your returns. With promos like LBTAX26R lowering fees to around 1.75%, it becomes more cost-effective—especially for larger, recurring payments. Ultimately, it’s only worth it if your rewards outweigh the discounted fees, so it’s best to assess before proceeding.
💳 Credit cards change their T&Cs every so often and it is difficult to stay updated. That’s why I created a Telegram Broadcast where you can receive timely bite-sized updates to get the most out of your spending.
💡 We believe in always paying our credit card bills on time and in full. It is only by doing that, can we fully maximise our credit card benefits.
