A 2019 Trump-Era Law Finally Lets the IRS Take Your Card Directly. Now Set a Launch Date and Show the Fee
A Treasury-IRS final rule effective Oct. 19 lets the IRS accept credit and debit cards without routing taxpayers to third-party processors, with fees recouped from card payers. In our view, it is overdue common sense, and the IRS should move before the 2027 filing season.
By Clara Hughes
ALTAS WORLD NEWS OPINION | By Clara Hughes, Chief Opinion Editor | October 20, 2026 | 5-min read You can buy groceries, gas and a cup of coffee with a tap of your card. But if you want to pay the IRS with a card, you still get routed to a private middleman and a separate convenience fee [1]. A final rule that took effect Monday clears the legal path for the IRS to take card payments directly [2]. In our view, it is a small, sensible fix to a law signed seven years ago, and the IRS should put it to work before the 2027 filing season. Key Takeaways Treasury and the IRS published final regulations, effective Oct. 19, 2026, implementing a Taxpayer First Act change that lets the IRS "directly accept payments of tax by credit or debit card, without having to connect taxpayers to third-party payment processors" [2]. The Taxpayer First Act was enacted July 1, 2019, during President Trump's first term [2]. The IRS may now pay card-processing fees under its contracts, but only if those fees are "fully recouped"