ATO (tax office) payments by credit card

[burmans]

They do have that power. Every quarter we pay estimated company tax. Individuals are levied Provisional tax as are contractors. That money is held over until eofy reconciles.

The trouble with this theory is that's not an overpayment until you reconcile (assuming you have paid what you estimated) so does not really prove either way if they can do it for an overpayment.

 

[ronicat]

Not advice - just information

29 June 2012
Recent changes to the law - Our discretion to retain refunds
The Taxation Administration Act 1953 (TAA) has recently been amended to provide us with the discretion to retain refunds while we undertake integrity checks on claims.
https://www.ato.gov.au/Tax-professionals/Consultation--Tax-practitioners/In-detail/Stakeholder-relationship-and-management-groups/BAS-Agent-Association-Group/Minutes/BAS-Agent-Advisory-Group-minutes,-August-2012/?page=10

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

ATO will never refund back to the credit card under the current arrangement. Optus SmartPay work like a clearing house. They debit the card, take the fee, and transfer the funds to the ATO. If the ATO ran it's own credit card facility, it would be a different story. There is no credit back to the card facility in a clearing house style arrangement, it is one way. Even if there was, the ATO probably wouldn't use it as it would cost them a service fee. Cheaper for them to just EFT back to you or cut a cheque.

I agree with others, it will be the card issuers who will shut it down as they have in the past, not the ATO, so we must be wary not to abuse it while it lasts.

 

[quokka77]

Given that stories have appeared in the national print media about the benefits of paying tax by card to earn ff points I doubt it will be long before pestwac follow city's path. But while it lasts it is good for some.

 

[sumthinfornuthin]

I think there's a risk maybe that the ATO may hold the over paid funds and say they will put them towards a future tax liability.

Can't do if no debt

 

[sumthinfornuthin]

Not advice - just information

29 June 2012
Recent changes to the law - Our discretion to retain refunds
The Taxation Administration Act 1953 (TAA) has recently been amended to provide us with the discretion to retain refunds while we undertake integrity checks on claims.
https://www.ato.gov.au/Tax-professionals/Consultation--Tax-practitioners/In-detail/Stakeholder-relationship-and-management-groups/BAS-Agent-Association-Group/Minutes/BAS-Agent-Advisory-Group-minutes,-August-2012/?page=10

They don't take long, our SMSF was audited because of the size of the refund created through a lot of imputation credits and the fact it is in Pension mode so no tax etc. Only took 3-4 weeks and they send back our refund PLUS interest on the refund.

 

[cove]

I just started paying the April BAS a few days early. All good and the receipt numbers were really jumping.

 

[MelUser]

Hi - I use NAB Amex so 1.5 points per dollar.I pay 1.45% for privilege. So if optus makes .5%, Nab keeps .95%, NAB then pays qantas .5% (for the points) and keep .45% for itself.

If NAB didn't allow me to pay by AMEX or limited points or whatever that would be .45% they are losing.

So, why would they stop?

AT0 - wins - tax is paid enthusiastically
Optus wins - using their gateway/clearing house/whatever we call it (0.5%)
Qantas wins - paid for the points (0.5%)
NAB wins - paid a percentage (0.45%)

While commercial entities are making money wouldn't they be mad to stop this?

 

[Jack_OC]

Hi - I use NAB Amex so 1.5 points per dollar.I pay 1.45% for privilege. So if optus makes .5%, Nab keeps .95%, NAB then pays qantas .5% (for the points) and keep .45% for itself.

If NAB didn't allow me to pay by AMEX or limited points or whatever that would be .45% they are losing.

So, why would they stop?

AT0 - wins - tax is paid enthusiastically
Optus wins - using their gateway/clearing house/whatever we call it (0.5%)
Qantas wins - paid for the points (0.5%)
NAB wins - paid a percentage (0.45%)

While commercial entities are making money wouldn't they be mad to stop this?

I totally agree with your sentiment, but when this has come up before, people have argued that the CC companies are not actually making a profit. For example, if NAB had to pay Optus 0.75% and Qantas 0.75%, they'd actually be losing money.

I don't think anyone knows the breakdown of who gets what, hence this has led to debate in the past, but I agree with you that most credit card companies are making money (or at least not losing money) on these transactions, and that's why they haven't put a stop to points earning with ATO.

I think Citi was the exception, especially with the Select card. They were awarding only slightly fewer points per $ than bank issued Amex cards (1.33 vs 1.5) but in return for just over 1/3 of the fee (0.48% vs 1.45%). It's very hard to see how that could have been economically viable. For the rest of them though - I agree it's likely that this works for everyone so I don't see any reason why it should stop (fingers crossed!).

 

[hossein_au]

Hi - I use NAB Amex so 1.5 points per dollar.I pay 1.45% for privilege. So if optus makes .5%, Nab keeps .95%, NAB then pays qantas .5% (for the points) and keep .45% for itself.

If NAB didn't allow me to pay by AMEX or limited points or whatever that would be .45% they are losing.

So, why would they stop?

AT0 - wins - tax is paid enthusiastically
Optus wins - using their gateway/clearing house/whatever we call it (0.5%)
Qantas wins - paid for the points (0.5%)
NAB wins - paid a percentage (0.45%)

While commercial entities are making money wouldn't they be mad to stop this?

Is that 1.5 of NAB points per $, or 1.5 airline points per $?

 

[cove]

Nab Amex pays 1.5 Qantas points per dollar on their version of Amex co-branded card. Great for domestic J flights.
Westpac Amex can get you Kris Flyer miles which can be really good for international flights.
It really is a personal choice as to which cards to use with the Big 4 banks on the fiscal fiend.

 

[hossein_au]

Nab Amex pays 1.5 Qantas points per dollar on their version of Amex co-branded card. Great for domestic J flights.
Westpac Amex can get you Kris Flyer miles which can be really good for international flights.
It really is a personal choice as to which cards to use with the Big 4 banks on the fiscal fiend.

Thanks Mr cove (or is that Prophet Cove, Sir??!! ;-) ). Would you mind PM me the exact name of those cards please? I am interested in Qantas as well as another airlines (be it VA, AA, CX, SQ, etc). Thank you.

 

[quokka77]

Meluser: according to the arithmatic in your example, n@b are buying points from qantas at approx 0.33c each. I doubt this is what they pay (I think the real figure would be between 0.5 and 1c but I don't know).

 

[serfty]

Thanks Mr cove (or is that Prophet Cove, Sir??!! ;-) )... .

Maybe js would be the prophet and cove the acolyte ...

 

[cove]

With Qantas chasing profits I would be thinking that they would be averaging closer to 1.25 cents or higher for their points sales. GST is about half as their internationally used points do not require GST to be paid. Naturally the banks and Woolies are getting their points at a pretty reasonable price.

js really started something with this thread.
The Krug ,the Dom, the Book The Cook and Suites class would be missing from our lives.

 

[Newk]

Thanks Mr cove (or is that Prophet Cove, Sir??!! ;-) ). Would you mind PM me the exact name of those cards please? I am interested in Qantas as well as another airlines (be it VA, AA, CX, SQ, etc). Thank you.

I think the names of the cards is in cove's post. Am I missing something?

 

[get me outta here]

What's the cut off date for April's BAS? I ask as I'm going to help someone by paying their BAS, but they have not given me the paperwork yet and I'm concerned that I'm going to miss out on some points.

I just started paying the April BAS a few days early. All good and the receipt numbers were really jumping.

 

[cove]

Our monthly BAS is due on the 21st of the following month and our quarterlies are due on the 28th of the month following the end of the quarter.
There may be other payment dates for different sized businesses so use this as a guide only.

 

[Pushka]

Those dates are the same as our small business. The only exception is for BAS2 which isn't due until 28 Feb and not 28 Jan.

 

[serfty]

The default cut off date for April is the 28th of that month, both for submission and payment - those entering their BAS online using the ATO business portal can get a (basically automatic) 2 week extension for both, so then the 12th May (yesterday) this time.

ATO Business Portal

(That extension used to be three weeks IIRC.)