The secret to paying taxes with a credit card
Think you can’t pay your HMRC tax bill with a credit card? You can with Curve. And with the 31st of January fast approaching, there couldn’t be a better time to try it out. Leaving your tax return to the last minute is not only stressful, it’s risky. If you miss the tax return deadline, you’re faced with an initial £100 fine that’ll only keep growing the longer you leave it.
Enter Curve.
Curve combines your debit, credit and loyalty cards into one card and one smart app.
But it’s more than just a way to Marie Kondo your wallet. As well as earning cashback and saving on fees abroad, you can take advantage of Curve Fronted – the feature that enables you to pay your UK taxes with a credit card.
Tell me more
Since January 2018, HMRC won’t let you pay your taxes with a personal credit card, making it tricky for people who want to spread the cost of the bill. Not ideal for freelancers who can’t always accurately predict future earnings, or can’t reliably depend on clients to pay on time. It’s also a shame for credit card holders on lucrative rewards programs, who miss the opportunity to make significant gains with their credit card provider.
What makes Curve the exception to the rule?
Curve is a debit card and can be processed as such. Think of us as your credit card in disguise. You pay your HMRC bill with a Curve debit card, but it’s your credit card underneath that funds the transaction. These transactions are more expensive for us, so we do charge a 1.5% fee to cover costs. For comparison, you would pay a 2.95% fee for the same transaction using Billhop – almost double. Curve Fronted should be used responsibly, when your credit card rewards offset the cost of fees and/or when you know you can comfortably manage future repayments.
What other taxes can I pay with Fronted?
As well as HMRC, you can use Fronted to pay for:
National Savings & Investments
DVLA Vehicle Tax
Student Loan Payments
I’m sold. How do I set it up?
If you haven’t got Curve, download the app and add your credit card. Fronted is an opt-in feature, and works like a button you switch on/off when needed. When you have Curve Fronted switched on, you can go to the HMRC website and pay your tax bill with a credit card – just make sure you have selected the right card as your payment card in the app before doing so.
App instructions:
iOS:
Tap on the “Account” icon on the bottom-left corner of the screen
Tap on the “Profile” icon on the top-right corner
Open the “Features” tab
Toggle the option “on” or “off”
Pay off your tax bill!
Android:
Tap on the “Profile” icon on the top-left corner of the screen
Open the “Features” section
Toggle the option “on” or “off”
Pay off your tax bill!
Using Curve Fronted free
You can pay your taxes with a credit card without a fee when you upgrade to our premium subscription tier, Curve Metal. This is £14.99 a month, and is packed with lots of benefits that should offset the cost. Like 1% cashback at 6 select retailers (including supermarkets and major brands you’re probably already addicted to anyway, like Amazon, Apple, ASOS and IKEA) Your phone and travel insurance is covered, as well as airport lounge access, car collision waiver insurance, and free ATM withdrawals abroad.
Ready to use Fronted, but not sure how to start the tax return process? You can do some extra homework here and here.
