ATO (tax office) payments by credit card

[Hammando]

Agree, it would probably work if you could press savings, but if you have to press credit, even though it is your own money, they probably won't let you press the credit button.
Has anyone tried it?

I tried it and unfortunately it doesn't work. As people have stated above you have to press credit and the biller does not accept credit cards.

I sent benoles a PM about it and he confirmed he hadn't actually tried it, but had seen Postbillpay as a payment option and got a little excited.

No shame there, i'd be excited too if i'd thought i'd stumbled on the holy grail of point earning.

 

[Newk]

I tried it and unfortunately it doesn't work. As people have stated above you have to press credit and the biller does not accept credit cards.

I sent benoles a PM about it and he confirmed he hadn't actually tried it, but had seen Postbillpay as a payment option and got a little excited.

No shame there, i'd be excited too if i'd thought i'd stumbled on the holy grail of point earning.

ach well, indeed. But maybe peeps should actually have tried stuff before they get the tom toms going? just MHO

PS: if they do find the holy grail possibly they should think about not posting it here

 

[Ben6]

Westpac Altitude Black. Triple the points. Just pay, load, pay, reload until tax is paid. No brainer IMO.

Great plan and no arguments but we actually use the extra 40 days of credit to improve the company cashflow and often don't have the funds lying around to use in that manner!

 

[burmans]

Well yes, that is true. Just like when you use Visa/Mastercard debit but select credit or paywave/paypass it is your money.
However, the transaction is treated as credit and the merchant pays a percentage of the spend in fees.
Banks etc love this as they earn money for nothing. Some business owners I know pay a couple of grand a month in these fees.

Yes but with a debit card you (sometimes) get the option to choose savings or credit. Just shows how effective it was that I've forgotten but there was a campaign last year . Just choose debit? So clearly in some case you get a choice!

 

[serfty]

I still pay for business flights to keep my VA WP status and to not waste my points when the business can fund those (family business so not all my own $$!). I take your point on the 'no free flight' however with the business paying for the credit card (including ATO fees) a VA J Flight MEL-LAX for around 200K with zero taxes is a pretty damn close thing from my perspective!!!!

I do only get half Amex points for every dollar spent with the ATO but I've got a nice high limit on the charge card and save other more valuable point earners for lower limit cards.

35000 points or 105000 points per month for the same cost???

That's six 200000 point rewards a year compared with 2 ...

Or 1,260,000 per year against 420,000 ...

To me is a no brainer .. .

 

[Jack_OC]

Yes but with a debit card you (sometimes) get the option to choose savings or credit. Just shows how effective it was that I've forgotten but there was a campaign last year . Just choose debit? So clearly in some case you get a choice!

I think you always get a choice with a debit card, but I believe Qantas Cash is actually a prepaid credit card rather than a debit card. Subtle difference but apparently important!

 

[Ben6]

35000 points or 105000 points per month for the same cost???

That's six 200000 point rewards a year compared with 2 ...

Or 1,260,000 per year against 420,000 ...

To me is a no brainer .. .

Yep, as stated I simply don't have the credit limit to use a different card and we don't have spare cash in the business to load up and pay down a different card. I can get up to $200k on my charge card before I need to pay down. Of course if anyone tells me a credit limit that high is possible on a card that would deliver better ATO points, I would definitely have a look at it?

 

[Danger UXB]

Yep, as stated I simply don't have the credit limit to use a different card and we don't have spare cash in the business to load up and pay down a different card. I can get up to $200k on my charge card before I need to pay down. Of course if anyone tells me a credit limit that high is possible on a card that would deliver better ATO points, I would definitely have a look at it?

If my memory server me correctly Cove's limit is higher but it is spread over a numbers of cards, not just a single credit provider. Mine is almost up to that number but again 3 different card providers.

 

[Ben6]

If my memory server me correctly Cove's limit is higher but it is spread over a numbers of cards, not just a single credit provider. Mine is almost up to that number but again 3 different card providers.

That makes sense. I do use other cards but load them up with non ATO payments that don't get discounted without missing out on the ATO points for as long as it lasts! Thanks for the clarification Danger

 

[serfty]

Yep, ...

see cove's posts upthread about paying their monthly obligations over several weeks with quite a few reloads ...

... Since the current cost at 1.45 cents for half a point works out at around 3 cents per point, the 840,000 points being missed out on would be worth over $25,000 ...

Certainly that's worth an additional hour or of two effort each month.

 

[Newk]

see cove's posts upthread about paying their monthly obligations over several weeks with quite a few reloads ...

... Since the current cost at 1.45 cents for half a point works out at around 3 cents per point, the 840,000 points being missed out on would be worth over $25,000 ...

Certainly that's worth an additional hour or of two effort each month.

can you get the horse to drink?
is a dead horse being flogged

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

Bear in mind many of us are being technically a bit naughty paying business expenses on personal cards, and I'd be happy to use a business card but the points earn is typically woeful.

 

[Buzzard]

Agree, it would probably work if you could press savings, but if you have to press credit, even though it is your own money, they probably won't let you press the credit button.
Has anyone tried it?

Yep, tried it. Does not work

 

[quokka77]

I think you can buy Amex points for around 3c per point directly from them. Certainly you can buy lifemiles at <2c per point. Not sure why you would bother with Amex via ATO at 2.9cpp (although if it's tax deductible I guess it's more like 2cpp). Each to their own, and that kind of thing.

 

[albyd]

I've recently embarked on my ATO journey with my shiny new Altitude Black AMEX and some sizeable bills. I agree with other posters - you get "good" value for the AMEX surcharge - earning 3 true points/dollar over the promotional period. As the AMEX surcharge is approx triple the MC/Visa surcharge and you get approx triple points, cost per point will be similar and can rack up points more quickly. I'm looking for a MC/Visa that's not QFF linked with a point/dollar earn rate. That way, the Visa/MC earn rate would be 2/3rds AMEX for 1/3rd surcharge. I prefer not to be at the mercy of QFF and to warehouse my points at Citi/Westpac. Are there any other non QFF point/dollar Visa/MC's I've overlooked?

My impression is I'm going to need to add QFF to my repertoire to get the point/dollar with say Macq Visa subject to $200K cap or WOWEDR - although I'd need to direct some everyday spend to it to not get expelled (assuming Macquarie as the new issuer will continue to enforce HSBC's Policies) - starting to get more complicated. Are QFF points worth the effort or just stick with the AMEX?

 

[cove]

Albyd the MasterCard earns .625 with Westpac Black once the 3 month promo is off for a 0.42% fee at the ATO so the true cost per point is 0.42 multiplied by 8 divided by 5. That is 0.672 after 90 days but half that during the first 90 days so that would be 0.336 cents. The Black Amex on promo produces points at a final cost of just under 0.48 cents per point during that promo period. Now that would get you scrambling to find some ATO bills to pay.
I do enjoy flying on QF in J using my Woolies EDRCC points so much we are heading for Melbourne Friday afternoon then then I go to the Gold Coast for work.

 

[diningdecadence]

has anyone attempted to increase their credit limits post the positive credit reporting? i got an increase offer letter the other day, but i'm not sure they know about the card i was 'going to cancel'...

 

[rogerkambah]

has anyone attempted to increase their credit limits post the positive credit reporting? i got an increase offer letter the other day, but i'm not sure they know about the card i was 'going to cancel'...

It would be interesting to know whether credit providers/fin. institutions have an obligation to provide data of clients' terminations of financial obligations, and any timeframe there is to action this.

How far in arrears will the database be?

 

[Beta4Me]

has anyone attempted to increase their credit limits post the positive credit reporting? i got an increase offer letter the other day, but i'm not sure they know about the card i was 'going to cancel'...

Yes, but pretty shortly after. Nothing would have been in place at the time so it would have been essentially no different than before the changes.

 

[Ben6]

can you get the horse to drink?
is a dead horse being flogged

This horse will drink long and hard but is relatively simple so if some-one (Cove seems the most informed) could step me through what I'm missing. This thread is over 300 pages long and I can't find the upstream thread mentioned.

My situation is this. We submit our BAS statements quarterly, then apply to the ATO for an installment plan to pay the amounts over 3 months. Our business is in a growth phase and cash is always short. We never have the funds to pay the amounts when they are due, so I have adjusted the due date on my charge card to fall in the first few days of each month, so we can collect some of receipts before paying it off. The monthly payment amount is usually about $115K which includes about $70K of taxes. I pay the ATO amounts on time using the card, collect the points (at a lower level than other cards - I know), then take advantage of the extra 40 days. We don't have the spare cash to load up, then pay down on lower limit cards in order to get a better point return because (as I understand it) you need to have the actual cash in your account to manage this.

Have I missed something as I do love my points so, and will happily spend a few hours a month to maximise returns!