Dear Joel,

Where can I find out how to pay my taxes with a credit card and earn frequent flyer miles as per radio commercials?

Dear Karen,

You can use a credit card (or an American Express Card) to pay the tax due when you file your 1999 individual income tax return on Form 1040EZ, 1040A or 1040. You can also use your credit card to pay the tax you owe if you ask for a 1999 filing extension on Form 4868. And you can use a credit card to pay your estimated taxes for 2000 on Form 1040ES. You can't, however, use a credit card to pay back taxes from prior years.

To pay by plastic, call 1-888-2PAY-TAX and follow the prompts. Beware: A convenience fee will be charged by the credit-card processor (you can't blame the IRS for this one), and that is on top of any fees or interest charged by your credit-card issuer. Those convenience fees can be steep: If you owe $100 to $199, for example, you'll pay a $6 fee-or a whopping 6% of a $100 bill. If you owe $2,000 to $2,699, the fee is $68-or 3.4% of a $2,000 bill. Official Payments Corp. offers a complete fee schedule at its website. Also, you will be told what the fee will be when you call, and have the option to cancel. If you choose to continue, you will receive a confirmation number, which you should write in the upper left-hand corner of page one of your tax return form.

The IRS offers a comprehensive Q&A at http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/elec_svs/cred-card.html.

Good luck,
Joel