CardUp 2025 income tax promo: 1.75% fee for Visa cards; buy miles from 0.86 cents

CardUp has announced its 2025 income tax promotion, which features a discounted 1.75% admin fee for recurring payments made with a Visa or UnionPay card. 

This allows cardholders to buy miles from as little as 0.86 cents each, depending on what card they hold. It’s a very competitive price already, but those who can afford to wait may wish to see what offer Citi PayAll has lined up for this year.

CardUp offering 1.75% fee for income tax

Recurring payments

Code	MLTAX25R
Limit	2x redemptions per user; no overall redemption cap
Admin Fee	1.75%
Min. Spend	None
Cap	None
Schedule By	31 August 2025, 6 p.m
Due Date By	25 March 2026
Eligible Cards	Visa, UnionPay
MLTAX25R T&Cs

CardUp customers can use the promo code MLTAX25R to enjoy a 1.75% fee for recurring income tax payments, instead of the usual 2.25% (technically 2.6%, but for CardUp’s year-round OFF225 offer).

The code is valid for up to 11 monthly recurring personal income tax payments, and the earliest due date you can select will be from 7 May 2025 onwards. 

Here’s the key details of this promotion:

• All payments must be scheduled by 31 August 2025, 6 p.m Singapore time
• Payment due dates must be on or before 25 March 2026
• Only valid for Singapore-issued Visa or UnionPay cards
• Valid for up to two redemptions per user
• Valid for both new and existing CardUp users

One-off payments

Code	VTAX25ONE
Limit	2x redemptions per user; no overall redemption cap
Admin Fee	1.75%
Min. Spend	None
Cap	None
Schedule By	23 May 2025, 6 p.m
Due Date By	26 May 2025
Eligible Cards	Visa, UnionPay
VTAX25ONE T&Cs

CardUp customers can use the promo code VTAX25ONE to enjoy a 1.75% fee for one-off income tax payments, instead of the usual 2.6%.

Here’s the key details of this promotion:

• All payments must be scheduled by 23 May 2025, 6 p.m Singapore time
• Payment due dates must be on or before 26 May 2025
• Only valid for Singapore-issued Visa or UnionPay cards
• Valid for up to two redemptions per user
• Valid for both new and existing CardUp users

What’s the cost per mile?

Here’s the cost per mile for various Visa cards in Singapore, given their earn rates and a 1.75% admin fee.

Card	Earn Rate	Cost Per Mile (1.75% fee)
Chocolate Visa Card Apply	2 mpd*	0.86¢
DBS Insignia Card Apply	1.6 mpd	1.07¢
UOB Reserve Card Apply	1.6 mpd	1.07¢
OCBC VOYAGE Card (Premier, PPC, BOS) Apply	1.6 mpd	1.07¢
Citi ULTIMA Card Apply	1.6 mpd	1.07¢
DBS Vantage Card Apply	1.5 mpd	1.15¢
StanChart Visa Infinite Card Apply	1.4 mpd^	1.23¢
UOB PRVI Miles Visa Card Apply	1.4 mpd	1.23¢
UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card Apply	1.4 mpd	1.23¢
OCBC VOYAGE Card Apply	1.3 mpd	1.32¢
OCBC 90°N Visa Card Apply	1.3 mpd	1.32¢
DBS Altitude Visa Card Apply	1.3 mpd	1.32¢
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite Card Apply	1.28 mpd	1.34¢
Citi PremierMiles Visa Card	1.2 mpd	1.43¢
Maybank Visa Infinite Card Apply	1.2 mpd	1.43¢
StanChart Journey Card Apply	1.2 mpd	1.43¢
*Capped at S$1,000 per calendar month, after which 0.4 mpd ^With a minimum spend of S$2,000 per statement month, otherwise 1 mpd (1.72 cpm). CardUp spending counts towards the minimum spend

To illustrate how this works, suppose you have a S$1,000 tax bill and make a one-off payment with CardUp:

• S$1,017.50 will be charged to your credit card (S$1,000 bill + 1.75% fee)
• Assuming a 1.4 mpd card, you will earn 1,425 miles (S$1,017.50 x 1.4 mpd; ignoring rounding)
• Given a S$17.50, the cost per mile is 1.23 cents each (S$17.50/1,425 miles)

Remember, both the tax payment amount and the CardUp fee are eligible to earn miles.

The Chocolate Visa Card gives the lowest cost per mile (at least for payments up to S$1,000 per month), but I’m more inclined to conserve its 2 mpd cap for transactions that are normally ineligible for rewards, such as charitable donations, government services, education, insurance premiums and utilities. Alternatively, I might consider using it for foreign currency spending, as it does not have any foreign currency transaction fees. 

Assuming you don’t qualify for ultra-premium cards like the Citi ULTIMA, DBS Insignia or UOB Reserve (all 1.6 mpd), then the next best alternatives would be the DBS Vantage (1.5 mpd) or UOB PRVI Miles Visa (1.4 mpd).

How to set up income tax payments

To schedule an income tax payment, login to your CardUp account and click on Create Payment > Taxes > IRAS-Income Tax

On the next screen, you’ll be prompted to enter the payment amount, choose a card (remember: Visa only), and a payment plan (the code is only valid for Standard payments).

Your payment reference number will be automatically filled based on the NRIC number registered to your CardUp account. This means you can’t use your CardUp account to pay someone else’s taxes, though someone else can use your credit card to pay taxes from their personal CardUp account.

You’ll also be prompted to choose whether you want this to be a one-time payment, or recurring payment. 

One-time payment

Under this option, you can pay any amount up to the total tax due on your NOA.

In other words, if your tax bill is S$10,000, you can pay any amount up to S$10,000.

Recurring payment

Under this option, you can use CardUp to pay your monthly instalment under a GIRO plan with IRAS. 

This can be set up via the following methods:

• Instant
  • myTax portal (DBS/POSB, OCBC, UOB, Bank of China, HSBC, Maybank)
• 3 working days
  • Bank portal (DBS/POSB, OCBC, UOB)
  • AXS stations (DBS/POSB)
• 3 weeks processing
  • GIRO application form 

Once your GIRO arrangement has been approved, you can view the monthly instalment by logging to myTax Portal, selecting Account > View Payment Plan > View Plan.

This is the figure you need to enter as the payment amount in the CardUp portal.

You’ll need to select the date of the first and last monthly payment. Do note that first and last few dates of every month will be blocked off. That’s because IRAS does their deductions on the 6th of every month, and CardUp payments need to arrive in advance of that to avoid double deductions.

Regardless of whether you choose one-time or recurring, don’t forget to enter the relevant promo code. Don’t worry that the total fee doesn’t reflect the discount yet. That will appear on the final screen.

On the next screen, you’ll be prompted to upload a copy of your NOA for verification. This is to ensure you aren’t using CardUp to overpay your tax bill, which is a big no-no from an IRAS point of view. 

Finally, you’ll be able to review the payment schedule before confirming it. Check that every payment in the recurring series enjoys the 1.75% rate (the last payment due date must be on or before 25 March 2026).

Conclusion

CardUp is now offering a 1.75% fee with the code MLTAX25R for income tax payments made with Visa or UnionPay cards, for payments set up by 31 August 2025. This allows the purchase of miles from as little as 0.86 cents each, depending on card.

It remains to be seen what other providers (especially Citi PayAll) come up with, but if your first instalment payment is due soon, it doesn’t hurt to use this code to cover it first.