Can You Pay GST and Income Tax With a Credit Card in India? (2026 Rules Explained)
By Nitish Bharadwaj · Published Aug 31, 2026 · 7 min
Income tax can be paid by credit card via the e-Pay Tax portal's Payment Gateway, which charges roughly 0.85% plus 18% GST — about 1% total — through six partner banks. GST payments by credit card are newer: GSTN enabled it only from December 3, 2025, through 14 partner banks, covering 28 states and union territories by 2026, though several banks support only debit card or UPI. Most issuers also exclude tax payments from reward points, so the real case for either route is short-term cash-flow float, not rewards.
It feels like an odd question to even ask — can a government tax portal accept a private credit card? — but with GST collections opening up to card rails only from December 2025, and income tax payments quietly supporting cards for a few years now, the honest answer in 2026 is 'partially, and it depends heavily on your bank.' Here's exactly what's live, what it costs, and why the reward points you're hoping to earn probably won't show up.
Income Tax — Yes, Through the e-Pay Tax Payment Gateway
The Income Tax Department's e-Pay Tax facility on the e-filing portal offers five distinct payment routes: Net Banking, Debit Card, RTGS/NEFT, Pay at Bank Counter, and Payment Gateway. Credit cards aren't a standalone option — they sit inside the Payment Gateway route, alongside debit card, UPI, and net banking, currently offered through six partner banks: Canara Bank, Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, and State Bank of India. Debit cards from five specific banks — Canara, ICICI, Indian Bank, SBI, and PNB — can also be used directly outside the gateway route, and carry no transaction fee at all.
| Mode | Fee |
|---|---|
| Net Banking | No transaction charge |
| Debit Card (Canara, ICICI, Indian Bank, SBI, PNB) | No transaction charge |
| Payment Gateway → Credit Card | ~0.85% convenience fee + 18% GST (≈1.003% total) |
| Payment Gateway → Debit Card / UPI | Fee varies by bank; often nil or minimal |
| RTGS / NEFT | Bank-dependent, typically nil on the mandate-based route |
GST — Enabled Only From December 2025, and Still Rolling Out
GST payments by credit card are a genuinely new option, not a longstanding one. GSTN switched on UPI and credit/debit card payments on the GST portal in a phased rollout that reached its 28th state or union territory — Andhra Pradesh — on December 3, 2025. Fourteen banks currently participate, including Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC First Bank, and Union Bank, but support isn't uniform: some enable all three modes (credit card, debit card, UPI), while others currently support only debit card or only UPI for GST challan payments. GSTN's own announcement notes that rollout to the remaining states and banking partners is still in progress, so the honest starting point is checking the payment options on your own GST challan for your specific bank.
| Status | |
|---|---|
| States/UTs covered | 28, as of December 3, 2025 |
| Participating banks | 14, including Axis, HDFC, ICICI, Kotak, IDFC First, Union Bank |
| Mode support | Varies by bank — some offer credit card + debit card + UPI, others only debit card or UPI |
| Where to check | GST Portal (gst.gov.in) → Services → Payments → Create Challan → select bank |
Why the Reward Points You're Expecting Probably Won't Show Up
Even where a tax payment goes through on a credit card, most issuers exclude government and tax-category merchant codes from reward-point earning — the same exclusion that already applies to rent payments made through aggregator apps, covered in our guide on paying rent by credit card under RBI's rules. SBI, ICICI, and several other issuers specifically flag tax and utility-adjacent merchant category codes as reward-ineligible in their card terms, regardless of which platform routes the payment. If your goal is earning cashback or points, check your card's exclusion list before assuming a large tax payment moves you toward a spend milestone — and remember any cashback you do earn elsewhere is itself taxable, a separate wrinkle our guide on credit card cashback and income tax rules explains in full.
When Paying Tax by Credit Card Actually Makes Sense
With rewards mostly off the table, the genuine case for this rests on cash-flow float. Paying a quarterly advance tax instalment or a large GST liability on a credit card with 15-20 days left in the current billing cycle can buy close to 40-45 days before the money actually leaves your account — useful if you're waiting on a client payment or want to avoid liquidating an investment early to meet a due date. That math only holds if you clear the full statement by the due date; carry a balance instead, and the roughly 3-3.5% monthly interest most Indian credit cards charge wipes out any benefit within the first month, on top of the convenience fee already paid. If a tax bill is large enough that you genuinely can't clear it in one cycle, converting it to a fixed-tenure EMI is usually the more honest option — our guide on whether credit card EMI conversion is worth it walks through when that trade-off actually pays off versus simply using the card's float for free.
Bottom Line
Yes, you can pay both income tax and GST by credit card in India in 2026, but neither route is free or fully rolled out — income tax carries a near-fixed ~1% fee through the Payment Gateway, and GST support depends entirely on whether your specific bank has been added to GSTN's phased rollout. Treat either option as a cash-flow tool for a short, calculated gap, not a rewards play, and always confirm your exact bank's payment modes on the relevant portal before counting on a credit card to meet a filing deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I pay GST using a credit card in India in 2026?
Yes, but only through banks GSTN has onboarded for this facility, which launched in phases from December 2025 and covered 28 states and union territories as of December 3, 2025. Some participating banks support only debit card or UPI, not credit card, so check your GST challan's payment options for your specific bank first.
Is there a fee for paying income tax by credit card?
Yes. Paying through the e-Pay Tax Payment Gateway option costs roughly 0.85% plus 18% GST on that fee — about 1% of the tax amount in total — regardless of which of the six partner banks processes it.
Do I earn reward points on tax payments made by credit card?
Usually not. Most issuers exclude tax and government-category merchant codes from reward-point earning, the same way many cards exclude rent payments. Check your card's specific terms rather than assuming rewards apply.
What happens if I don't pay off a tax payment made on my credit card in full?
You'll be charged the card's standard revolving interest, typically around 3-3.5% a month, on top of the convenience fee already charged for the transaction — together these can exceed any float benefit within the first billing cycle.