ATO (tax office) payments by credit card

[Newk]

I was the only one in the 14 Suite Emirates cabin this morning. Where were all of you?

It's all good. We don't want word spreading tooooo far . And are you ever on the ground Cove?

Edit to add: we are doing the same flight in a bit less than 3 weeks.

 

[cove]

Check out the Emirates bathroom/shower when you do the Suites on their A380.
I get home on Thursday.

 

[DaveB]

Re: Land Tax payments by credit card

Hello Brains Trust

With Land Tax payments using non-AMEX cards, would anyone know if Select is still good there or not?

Failing that, would EDR (in small parcels) be acceptable ?

Any positive reports either way to help ?

Many thanks

NSW payroll tax is still good on Select.

I have put through a bit over $10K on the EDR the past couple of months in less than $5k amounts. Only other time I use the card is for over the phone purchases so easier to track who to allocate spend to.
Funny how NAB cards pay interest when you put the card in credit to pay ATO. The 2 & 1 cent earned the past two months is nothing but a bookkeeping hindrance but love how fragile their systems are.

 

[Flying Fox]

I was the only one in the 14 Suite Emirates cabin this morning. Where were all of you?

I was at my desk dreaming of flying first class with any top tier airline.

 

[legroom]

Re: Land Tax payments by credit card

NSW payroll tax is still good on Select..

Thanks, DaveB

How long ago was your experience ?

Just in case .....

PS: my question was about land tax, not payroll tax - oops

 

[Jack_OC]

Personally I dont think this is the correct calculation.

If for example you have 10K to sepnd
- on Amex you will get 15K points for $145 spend
- if you can find a 1:1 Visa/Mcard you will get 10K for $42 spend

The benefit of the Amex over Visa in example given is 5000 points for $103 which is well above 1c per point. For those Visas which only return .5 points per dollar that statement is however true and for some tax deductability will also come into play.

But is there such thing as a Visa/MC that pays 1pt per $ on ATO transactions? (Other than Qantas direct earn cards)

I thought the best you can get is 0.625 pts/$. If so, the benefit of Amex over Visa/MC is 8,750 pts for $103, which is a cost of 1.18c per pt if you want to look at it that way (pre-deduction), or as little as 63c per pt post deduction.

To provide context, SQ charge 4c (US) per KF pt if you pay to top up your pts at the time of booking.

 

[DaveB]

Re: Land Tax payments by credit card

Thanks, DaveB

How long ago was your experience ?

Just in case .....

PS: my question was about land tax, not payroll tax - oops

Highly doubt land tax is treated any different to the $5K or so put thru every month for payroll tax. Both incur the same 0.4% visa charge.

 

[Duffa]

Check out the Emirates bathroom/shower when you do the Suites on their A380.

There is something truly decadent about a hot scrub at 38,000' isn't there? Pity it's only 3 minutes!
I wanted to go twice but they wouldn't let me, even though Mstr Duffa and I were the only two using the facility!

 

[Duffa]

Got my new terms with my Select statement yesterday.
Clearly states that ATO pay will be excluded from 1 November 2013.
That implies that ATO will be included until then.
Might give it a whirl with Mrs Duffa's PAYG next month.
Any thoughts?

 

[Pushka]

Got my new terms with my Select statement yesterday.
Clearly states that ATO pay will be excluded from 1 November 2013.
That implies that ATO will be included until then.
Might give it a whirl with Mrs Duffa's PAYG next month.
Any thoughts?

Why not? we'll have a BAS statement due in late October.

 

[burmans]

But is there such thing as a Visa/MC that pays 1pt per $ on ATO transactions? (Other than Qantas direct earn cards)

I thought the best you can get is 0.625 pts/$. If so, the benefit of Amex over Visa/MC is 8,750 pts for $103, which is a cost of 1.18c per pt if you want to look at it that way (pre-deduction), or as little as 63c per pt post deduction.

To provide context, SQ charge 4c (US) per KF pt if you pay to top up your pts at the time of booking.

Agreed on the first bit, this is probably why I still do it, we are comparing apples (SQ points) with lemons (QF points). My point was really that you should be looking at incremental benefit but yes I for one value SQ points higher than QF points.

On the last bit though, do you actually know anyone who has actually been stupid enough to pay 4c for their points, except perhaps where they have been about 1K short for an award. It's not a price I would pay unless I was desperate, I certainly dont think they are worth that, particularly when I can get points much cheaper (in the broader context, e.g. US or LM for example).

 

[Jack_OC]

Agreed on the first bit, this is probably why I still do it, we are comparing apples (SQ points) with lemons (QF points). My point was really that you should be looking at incremental benefit but yes I for one value SQ points higher than QF points.

No issues with looking at incremental benefit, but even when you do that, the incremental benefit with Amex is large and comes at a relatively low cost.

On the last bit though, do you actually know anyone who has actually been stupid enough to pay 4c for their points, except perhaps where they have been about 1K short for an award. It's not a price I would pay unless I was desperate, I certainly dont think they are worth that, particularly when I can get points much cheaper (in the broader context, e.g. US or LM for example).

I don't know anyone who has purchased a large number, but I myself have purchased a small number. I also know people who are stupid enough to pay $9-10k for a return J fare to Europe. Believe it or not, if it was possible to simply buy the KF points required for a trip to LHR or FRA at 4c a point, it would work out cheaper than paying for the fare in cash (it would cost about $7,300 including taxes). So if you could buy the whole lot at 0.97c per pt using Amex for ATO (non-deductible) or even better at 0.52c per pt (after deduction), you're getting a great deal in my opinion. That could get you a return J trip to LHR for less than $2.5k without the deduction or less than $1,800 with the deduction (including taxes).

I've never got involved in DM or LM so I don't know a lot about it, but can you get to Europe in J for less than the totals above by buying miles? If so, can you do it on SQ or just second tier carriers? Either way, IMHO KF points are easily worth way more than 1c per pt, so if you can get them at or below that level, buy as many as you can!

 

[DaveB]

Got my new terms with my Select statement yesterday.
Clearly states that ATO pay will be excluded from 1 November 2013.
That implies that ATO will be included until then.
Might give it a whirl with Mrs Duffa's PAYG next month.
Any thoughts?

Just have to shake your head on this one and not even try to understand their thinking putting a date nine months after slamming the door without warning on points earn. At least worth a call to clarify before a small test run.
Even without ATO, I have been putting around 2.5x my limit on Select each month. The $10K account in credit limit will make future payment scheduling a real hassle but the points earn will still be well worth it.
The good ship Citi keeps going in circles making it easy to still score some hits.

 

[legroom]

Got my new terms with my Select statement yesterday.
Clearly states that ATO pay will be excluded from 1 November 2013.
That implies that ATO will be included until then.
Might give it a whirl with Mrs Duffa's PAYG next month.
Any thoughts?

Being a non-lawyer, it seems to me that during the period March to Nov 2013, Select would be on shaky grounds defending its un-publicised decision to cull the ATO item having no clear T & C terms to back them up - having awarded them previously.

Alas, I am no Rineheart, nor Palmer...

"Thought": no way I would throw a dice with them.

I did take one for the team back in March 2013 and the result was naught.

 

[andrewf]

I just noticed on my Citibusiness statement that it has this statement which is slightly different to the others I have seen quoted.

“We award reward points for all eligible transactions debited to your account as per our terms and conditions. an eligible transaction is a retail purchase and excludes, (without limitation) government charges. an example of a government charge is Australian Taxation Office (ATO) payments.”

 

[wafliron]

Agreed, but what I don't understand is why the ATO, which must have far greater "buying power" still charges more than the NSW Office of State Revenue (0.4% on MC or VISA, no AMEX option). Almost makes me wish I had more payroll tax than we do.

Almost certainly due to a margin kept by Optus, who process CC payments on their behalf. The underlying merchant fee is 0.33% on Visa and Mastercard, which is the same amount directly passed on by some other government departments (e.g. Victorian SRO) who (at least as far as you can tell by looking at their payment portals) process the payments themselves. And hence my earlier comment about wishing the ATO would ditch Optus and just process CCs themselves!

With Land Tax payments using non-AMEX cards, would anyone know if Select is still good there or not?

Failing that, would EDR (in small parcels) be acceptable ?

Any positive reports either way to help ?

You didn't say which state, but if VIC then VIC SRO charges for Payroll Tax still earn points, so I assume would be the same for Land Tax.

 

[legroom]

You didn't say which state, but if VIC then VIC SRO charges for Payroll Tax still earn points, so I assume would be the same for Land Tax.

Sorry, NSW

I am still wondering if the heartburn is worth some savings on CC fees (AMEX vs Select).

EDIT: should have noted AMEX is not allowed by NSW OSR. So, between a Select trial or another 1:1 QFF card.

 

[MAX_1]

Got my new terms with my Select statement yesterday.
Clearly states that ATO pay will be excluded from 1 November 2013.
That implies that ATO will be included until then.
Might give it a whirl with Mrs Duffa's PAYG next month.
Any thoughts?

Which card is next best after 1 Nov.?

 

[cove]

I am now using BankWest Platinum Visa for the capped 200,000 QF points annually
Westpac Black Earth uncapped QF points and Westpac Black Altitude for uncapped Kris miles plus Westpac Platinum Krisflyer Amex for uncapped Kris miles
The Black Westpac MasterCards produce a measely 0.625 points at a 0.42% fee so it is your call on paying a higher fee for 1.5 points per dollar (1.45% fee)by using the Amex version.
Limited use on Woolies EDRCC....no more than 30,000 a month provided you have heavy personal bills mixed in to ease the pain. I remember your pain on this MAX_1. Better at 15000 a month I think.
My pain was with Citi Select (Kris) which conked out around April so I missed 180k Citi Reward points.

 

[Mattyana2003]

Any idea if Qantas CU card works for ATO? I've read the whole post back to front aaand can't find anything. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.