Can receiving money from a friend to pay my credit card bill cause an Income Tax issue?
I’m 23 and have been working for around 2.5 years. I have multiple credit cards, but I personally don’t have many high-value expenses.
A friend of mine has significantly higher expenses and frequently makes large purchases, including flight bookings. Sometimes, I let him use my credit card for these purchases. He then transfers the exact amount to me via UPI, usually before the statement/payment due date, and I use that money to pay the credit-card bill.
I don’t make any profit from this. I’m essentially doing it to earn the credit-card rewards/cashback.
Recently, a friend who is a CA told me this could potentially create an Income Tax/compliance issue because there are repeated and sometimes large incoming UPI transactions from another person, and I would have to explain the source if questioned. He also advised me not to let others use my credit cards.
Is this actually a valid concern?
If the transactions are genuine reimbursements and I have the credit-card statements and UPI records showing the money coming in and being used to pay the corresponding bill, can this still be treated as unexplained income?
Also, is allowing someone else to use my credit card itself a compliance/terms-and-conditions issue?
Would appreciate a fact check from people familiar with Indian taxation and credit-card rules.
Posted Sep 5, 2026, 3:48 PM UTC