IRS May Now Run Card Tax Payments. Credit Fees Stay at 1.75%

A Treasury rule that took effect on 19 October 2026 lets the Internal Revenue Service contract directly for card payments of tax and pay the processing fee itself, as long as it recovers every dollar from the people paying by card.

For now, the fees taxpayers see have not changed. The IRS page listing approved card processors, last reviewed or updated on 14 October, still shows two companies, and the lowest credit card fee on it is 1.75%.

What the rule does

The rule implements a 2019 change in the Taxpayer First Act. Until now, the IRS could contract with card processors but was barred from paying them, so taxpayers who wanted to pay by card were sent to third-party processors that charge their own fee.

Under the final regulation, the IRS may pay a fee under such a contract but must recoup the full amount as a reimbursement fee added to the tax payment. That fee is not a tax and cannot be refunded as one. In negotiating, the IRS must seek to minimise the fees it pays.

The Treasury and the IRS adopted their July 2024 proposal without change. They received eight comments and cancelled the public hearing because no one asked to speak. The rule itself does not set up any payment process or sign any contract.

What card payers pay now

HaiPay read the IRS card payment page in 35 archived copies from January 2022 to October 2026, and live on 20 October.

In January 2022 the page listed three processors, and the lowest credit card fee was 1.96%. By February 2025 payUSAtax was gone; the page says it no longer accepts payments on behalf of the IRS. The two that remain cut their fees at the same point: Pay1040 to 1.75% and ACI Payments to 1.85%, each with a $2.50 minimum. Neither has changed since.

Caption: Credit card fee on a federal tax payment by IRS-approved processor, January 2022 to October 2026. Source: IRS card payment page and Internet Archive captures; chart by HaiPay.
Alt: Step line chart of credit card fees on federal tax payments at IRS-approved processors from 2022 to 2026, falling from between 1.96% and 1.99% in January 2022 to 1.75% at Pay1040 and 1.85% at ACI Payments, with payUSAtax leaving in January 2025

Consumer debit cards pay a flat fee, $2.15 at Pay1040 and $2.10 at ACI Payments. In January 2022 ACI charged $2.00 on debit payments up to $1,000. Commercial cards pay 2.89% and 2.95%.

On a $10,000 tax payment, that comes to $175 or $185 by consumer credit card and $289 or $295 by commercial card.

Why this matters

For payment processors, the rule allows a new kind of contract, in which the IRS is the merchant and pays the processor instead of the taxpayer paying it directly. For taxpayers, a channel run that way would not be free: whatever the IRS pays, card payers must cover in full. What could change is who negotiates the rate.

The IRS page says no part of the current fees goes to the IRS, and that businesses can deduct them.

What this does not show

The rule sets no fee level and names no contract. The fee history comes from archived copies of one IRS page, captured roughly monthly since mid-2024 and quarterly before that, so a change is dated to the first copy that shows it. HaiPay did not contact the IRS or the processors.

What to watch

Whether the IRS signs a contract under the new authority before the 2027 filing season, and at what fee.

Whether a reimbursement fee on a direct IRS channel comes in below 1.75%.

And whether a third processor returns to the IRS list