It’s Income Tax Season
Need to pay income tax in Singapore but want to use your credit card for rewards? While the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) doesn’t accept credit cards directly, there’s a solution: CardUp.
Use CardUp to Earn Rewards
CardUp, a third-party service, lets you pay income tax with credit card and earn rewards like cashback or miles. It simplifies online tax payments and even auto-fills your tax number to avoid errors.
Here’s the breakdown:
- CardUp charges your credit card for the tax amount + a fee.
- They handle the bank transfer to IRAS for you.
Maximize Your Rewards with Promo Codes!
Here are some promo codes to help you save even more on your tax payments with CardUp:
- New Users: Use code NICHOLASN116 for S$30 off your first payment to maximize your rewards before using the codes below. Alternatively, 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
- Existing Users:
- Use code IJTLTAX24 for a 1.75% fee for Visa payments.
- Applicable to new and existing users
- Applicable to Visa and China UnionPay credit cards
- One redemption per user (You can only pay for your own income tax)
- End date: 31 August 2024
- End due date: 25 March 2025
- T&Cs here
- Use code MCTAX24 for a 1.99% fee for Mastercard payments.
- Use code IJTLTAX24 for a 1.75% fee for Visa payments.
Here are the credit cards that can earn you either miles or cashback via Cardup:
Card | Earn Rate | Cashback or Cost per Mile |
3% Cashback – Min monthly spending of S$800; max cashback earned at S$833 per month | 1.25% Cashback Effective 01 January 2026, this will no longer earn cashback | |
1.5 miles per dollar | 1.15¢ cost per mile (use code IJTLTAX24) | |
1.4 miles per dollar | 1.23¢ cost per mile (use code IJTLTAX24) | |
1.3 miles per dollar | 1.32¢ cost per mile (use code IJTLTAX24) | |
 OCBC Voyage Card | 1.3 miles per dollar | 1.32¢ cost per mile (use code IJTLTAX24) |
1.3 miles per dollar | 1.32¢ cost per mile (use code IJTLTAX24) |
How to pay income tax with credit card:
- Sign Up for an account
2. Schedule a payment by selecting Income Tax payment type under the Taxes payment category
3. Select the recipient
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 below 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
- For existing users, use IJTLTAX24 for1.75% fee for Visa and MCTAX24 for 1.99% fee for Mastercard
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:
Tip: Make Monthly Recurring Income Tax Payments over 12 months To Maximise Cashflow
Step 1: Make a GIRO arrangement with IRAS first.
As you can see the deduction from your bank account will be on the 6th of the month, so you just need to arrange for Cardup to make payments before the deduction happens.
Step 2: Follow the steps above and schedule the monthly recurring payments BEFORE the deduction date (in my case, 6th of every month) using promo codes here:
For new users, use code NICHOLASN116 for S$30 off your first payment to maximise your rewards before using the below codes.
For existing users, use IJTLTAX24 for1.75% fee for Visa and MCTAX24 for 1.99% fee for Mastercard
So Which Credit Card Am I Using For Income Tax via CardUp?
I’m using the Maybank Platinum Visa Card. This card offers cashback, but requires a minimum monthly spend of S$300 (or multiples of S$300) to qualify.
Update: Due to the nerf, only 30% of your spending counts toward CardUp/iPayMy (MCC 7399) when using Maybank Platinum Visa— you need to spend the other 70% on other eligible categories just to qualify for the cashback tiers. That makes the effective cashback much lower and harder to achieve.
The Strategy:
I’ve decided to pay my income tax monthly, starting in April.
The Breakdown for Q2 (April – June), Q3 (July – Sep), Q4 (Oct – Dec):
Here’s how I’ll structure my monthly spending for each quarter to hit the S$300 minimum:
- Fixed Income Tax Amount
- Fixed Internet Bill (automatically paid through Starhub app)
- Fixed Monthly Donation/Insurance
The total amount will be a fixed number to the exact dollar of either S$300, S$1000, or S$2000 (depending on what works best for my budget). This ensures I always reach the required spend and get the cashback.
Lesson Learned:
I previously tried paying S$350 some months and S$1100 others. Unfortunately, I only received cashback on the S$300 portion. So, sticking to a pre-planned consistent, fixed amount is key! You can adjust the details to fit your specific credit card and spending habits.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Can I use Maybank Platinum Visa to pay for insurance?
- For insurance that allows direct credit card payment on their website:
- you should be able to use Maybank Platinum Visa on the website to make a direct payment, thus skipping the Cardup fee and still earn cashback.
- Update: Due to the nerf, only 30% of your spending counts toward Insurance— you need to spend the other 70% on other eligible categories just to qualify for the cashback tiers. That makes the effective cashback much lower and harder to achieve.
- For insurance that does not allow direct credit card payment on their website:
- Yes, if it’s monthly payment, you can schedule it via Cardup using promo code below. Insurance payment on Maybank Platinum Visa can be accumulated as eligible spend for up to 30% of the monthly spend amount for each tier. Eg. If your monthly spend amount is $300, insurance payments can only be 30% of that amount, which is $90. The rest of the $210 must be spent on other eligible categories.
For new users, use code NICHOLASN116 for S$30 off your first payment to maximise your rewards before using the below codes.
For existing users, use RECURRING185 for 1.85% fee
OCBC 90N Card
Earn 1.3 miles per dollar on local spend and 2.1 miles per dollar on foreign currency spend
💳 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.
One Response
Hello!
Thanks for sharing the article and I have used your link to signed up the UOB privi and cardup.
I am planning to use this uob card & cardup combo for tax payments and car installements. For the promo code “IJTLFREE” for first payment – I will not be able to use it for tax correct if I wish to have the tax recurring under “IJTLTAX24”?
what is the best strategy so i can utilize the first payment promo?
Thanks,