Weird Trick Got Me 3% Cashback Paying My Taxes

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topcashbackI hear putting “Weird Trick” in the subject of a post is a great way to get someone to read.  I can only imagine how “Barely Legal Weird Trick” would perform.  That said, this is legit and worth a gander.

Through this Sunday, March 16th, you can use your credit card to buy American Express gift cards when you do so by clicking through TopCashback.  Why the heck would you wanna do that?  Because TopCashback will give you 3% cashback on the Amex gift cards you buy through Sunday.

The cards arrive in a couple days and you can use them anywhere Amex is accepted.  Doing this is a great way to meet a spending requirement on credit card.  As I wrote about in “Is This a Smart Way To Pay Uncle Sam?“, you can use those gift cards to pay your taxes.

It’s a bit late to get a new credit card to take advantage of this offer, but you can chalk up some rewards on your existing card(s) doing this.

Here’s what happened when I clicked through TopCashback to buy an American Express gift card worth $3,000.

  1. I used my credit card that pays me 2% cashback on my purchases.
    $3,000 x .02 = $60 cashback
  2. TopCashback will pay me 3% cashback on my purchases.
    $3,000 x .03 = $90 cashback
  3. American Express has free shipping all month if you purchase business gift cards with Promotion Code FSEMP14.  I paid a $3.95 card purchase fee.
  4. I used IRS approved PayUSATax.com to pay some taxes.  They charged me a fee of 1.87% for using my American Express gift card.
    $3,000 x .0187 = $56.10 fee

That’s right.  I used a credit card to buy Amex gift cards that I turned around and used as credit cards to pay taxes.  Because I used TopCashback to buy the Amex gift cards, I will get 3% cashback on the amount of gift cards purchased.

Best of all, when all is said and done, I’m up $89.95 tax free cash!

Here are some of the caveats.

  • TopCashback’s site says “Please note; there is a limit of $500 per gift card, anything higher will not be eligible for cashback.”  That has not been my experience.  I have gotten cash back with larger amounts.  If that is a concern, you could just buy a bunch of $500 gift cards.  You will pay the $3.95 Purchase Charge per card.  That is why I selected one $3,000 gift card.
  • American Express says “Free Shipping Offer is only valid on purchases of Business Gift Cards”.  If you want a business gift card and do not have a Tax ID number, use your social security number.
  • Some folks who used a Citi credit card to buy gift cards reported that their gift card purchases were charged as a cash advance.  You might want to set you card’s cash advance limit as low as possible to avoid this problem.
  • It can take weeks to get paid from TopCashback.

In the market for a new credit card with a big sign-up bonus? Click on “Chip’s Favorite Credit Card Offers” at the top right side of this website for up-to-date deals, terms, and conditions.  Email me if you have any questions about which card might be right for your situation.

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