Some offers mentioned below are no longer available.
Filing taxes on your own can be cheaper than hiring an accountant, but the costs of online tax filing software can still add up. The best programs can cost $170 or more for federal filing, plus $50 per state. And the price goes up from there if you want personal advice or a review from a tax expert.
Thankfully, many credit card issuers are offering discounts on popular tax software programs that can save you $5 to $60 when you pay with an eligible card. The current discounts are nearly all for TurboTax and TaxAct. These discounts are a great way to reduce the cost of filing taxes, especially if you wind up owing tax money.
Keep in mind that some of these offers are targeted to individual customers, so you may not receive access to every promotion. And to benefit, you'll need to use your eligible card to pay for the tax software.
CNBC Select has listed card-linked offers, so to qualify for the discount you'll need to log in to your account and add the offer to your card. Card-linked offers are useful because you can still take advantage of promo codes or click through a shopping portal (like Rakuten) to stack your savings.
Here’s a roundup of tax software discounts available from most of the major credit card issuers.
TurboTax
Free version
If you have a simple Form 1040 return only (no forms or schedules except as needed to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, student loan interest, and Schedule 1-A), you can file for free yourself with TurboTax Free Edition, or you can file with TurboTax Expert Assist Basic at the listed price. Roughly 37% of taxpayers are eligible.
Guarantee
Guarantees 100% accuracy and maximum refund
Live support
Expert Assist plan includes unlimited assistance and final review. Expert Full Service includes a dedicated expert to complete and file your return.
Tax refund advance loan
Yes
Read our review of TurboTax tax software.
TaxAct
Online plans
Free, Deluxe, Premier, Self-Employed
Free version
Federal returns (Form 1040 and limited credits only)
Guarantee
Maximum refund guarantee and $100,000 accuracy guarantee
Live support
TaxAct Xpert Assist is available starting at $45
Tax refund advance loan
Yes
Terms apply
Pros
- More affordable than other paid software programs
- Free tier can process both federal and state returns
- Refund advance available
- Accuracy guarantee covers legal fees up to $100,000
- All plans come with live support from tax experts
Cons
- Returns with freelance or investment income don't qualify for free plan
Credit cards with tax filing discounts
American Express
Small business and consumer Amex card members can activate Amex Offers to save with TurboTax, Jackson Hewitt and TaxAct. Currently, the following offers are available:
- TurboTax: Spend $50 or more, get $10 back (expires May 15, 2023)
- TaxAct: Get 30% back on purchases, up to a total of $60 (expires April 18, 2023)
- TaxAct: 5+ Amex points per eligible dollar spent, up to 2,000 points (expires April 18, 2023)
- Jackson Hewitt: Spend $25 or more, get $5 back (online purchases; expires April 18, 2023)
Capital One
Capital One isn’t running any card-linked promotions at this time. However, you can earn cash back with several tax services by clicking through the Capital One Offers shopping portal. At the time of writing the following offers are available:
- TaxAct - 19% back
- TaxSlayer - up to 35% back
- TurboTax - 13% back
- H&R Block Tax Prep - 10% back
Chase
The Chase Offers program is offering eligible cardholders the opportunity to save on TaxAct and TurboTax purchases. You can add these offers to eligible Chase cards:
- TaxAct: $7 back (expires April 30, 2023)
- TurboTax: $10 back (expires April 18, 2023)
Plus Chase cardholders can save up to $15 on TurboTax federal products when they purchase through this link. Here are the discounts:
- $5 off Deluxe or Deluxe Live
- $10 off Premier or Premier Live
- $15 off Self-Employed or Self-Employed Live
Citi
Eligible Citi card holders can save when filing their taxes with TurboTax or TaxAct. Here’s the breakdown:
- TaxAct: 25% back (expires April 30, 2023)
- TurboTax: $10 back (expires April 18, 2023)
Discover
Discover isn’t running any promotions at this time.
[JS- I don't have any Bank of America or Wells Fargo cards, since I can't confirm anything there I'm just leaving them out]
Bottom line
Depending on what credit cards you have, you may be able to save extra money when filing with select tax software companies. Most major card issuers have card-linked offers you can add to your card to earn cash back or bonus points on eligible purchases. The advantage of these card-linked deals is they stack with other discounts, like promo codes or shopping portal bonuses.
