Convenience Fee

For payments made online, a convenience fee of 2.5% will be charged for the credit card transaction or a flat fee of $3.00 for an electronic check or Echeck from your United States checking or savings account. These fees are added to your tax amount due including penalty and cost.

The convenience fee is added to cover the fees and costs charged by credit card companies and financial institutions, based upon a percentage of the transaction.

All credit card merchants pay these fees, however, commercial merchants can set the price of goods high enough to cover these fees. The County of Alameda cannot raise taxes to cover these fees nor can we absorb the costs.

If you elect to pay by credit card or Echeck, the county needs to recover the fees that will be charged by the credit card company and financial institution, in order to offset the cost of providing the service. Section 2511.d of the Revenue and Taxation Code states “The County may impose a fee for the use of credit card sufficient in amount to provide for the recovery of fees or discounts paid by the county.”