can I use 2 credit cards to pay council tax?

claire07

I pay council tax twice yearly so nearly £700 is due 1st April. I'd like to use Halifax Clarity card to do my £300 for this statement period and the balance with my Tesco card, but can't find anything to say if this is possible. (I begrudge doing it all on the Clarity card when I only need the £300 payment to get the reward!)

Tixy

You'd need to check with your council that they accept credit cards (I don't think all do).
Assuming they do you can certainly pay split over 2 different cards no problem.

birkee

And double the admin charges for the Council? I'll bet there will be many Councils that have SOME rule about it.
Why TWO credit cards? Insufficient credit left on either one?

YorkshireBoy

birkee wrote: »

And double the admin charges for the Council?

It'll be a percentage, so possibly no additional cost to them in merchant fees.

I'll bet there will be many Councils that have SOME rule about it.

They may charge a fee...but their (and hence our) costs would be much higher by dealing with late/non payers so maybe they'll absorb the merchant fee just to pull some money in?

Why TWO credit cards? Insufficient credit left on either one?

The OP has already answered that...see the bracketed text at the end of the post.

birkee

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

It'll be a percentage, so possibly no additional cost to them in merchant fees.They may charge a fee...but their (and hence our) costs would be much higher by dealing with late/non payers so maybe they'll absorb the merchant fee just to pull some money in?The OP has already answered that...see the bracketed text at the end of the post.

I was thinking about the staff who have to process the payments, not the costs of the transaction.

So why can't it ALL go on the Clarity card?

Careful_ly

Does your council have an automated telephone payment line ?

My council offers the automated line and I have split my payments over 2 cards in the past, you need to make 2 telephone calls to do this.

My council doesn't charge any extra for credit card payments, I know some councils don't accept them, but there is no free way for them to collect funds due.

The reason OP wants only to pay £300 on the Clarity card is that £5 reward is paid for a £300 spend, but the £5 does not increase for spends over £300.

Tixy

birkee wrote: »

So why can't it ALL go on the Clarity card?

Presumably the APR on the second card is lower than clarity so it works out the best way for the OP to split the transactions. Or maybe the second card is one that gives cashback/rewards so again works out financially best for them.

jen245

My local council charges for using credit cards, so you best make sure yours doesn't if that's how you want to pay

pqrdef

birkee wrote: »

And double the admin charges for the Council? I'll bet there will be many Councils that have SOME rule about it.

Nothing says countil tax has to be paid all in one go. So long as they get the due amount by the due date, I can pay it £1 at a time.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

Here's the first result if I Google teignbridge council tax credit card. It states that there is a 1.7% surcharge for CC payments and then has a link to a payment page.

Try substituting your own council name and you may get the required information.

claire07

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions. After looking on my council's webpage there is no mention of a surcharge for credit card payment (I suspect they are glad to get the money any way they can). So I'll go ahead and pay £300 by Clarity card (for the £5 reward) and the balance on my Tesco Clubcard.