ATO (tax office) payments by credit card

[serfty]

FWIW, a person who may or may not be an accountant informed me that with their experience in relation to small business, the ATO may be somewhat more concerned about latish lodgements, rather than than latish payments. The implication may have been there being more emphasis in getting the numbers in than the actual $$$'s.

This is not legal nor is it financial advice ...

 

[Pushka]

That's interesting info Serfty. A classic case of dotting the 'i' and crossing the 't' (paperwork) and not worrying about the outcome (payment).

 

[Cruiser Elite]

FWIW, a person who may or may not be an accountant

FWIW a person who IS an accountant and who IS the Taxation Partner in a very large organisation and whose team under him are dealing with specific ATO cases 24/7 and 365 may have or indeed DID tell me that the compliance team in ATO are so thin on the ground now that adherence to lodgement / payment by small business will draw zero attention - their focus is the big boys and the 20 bil of taxation arrears across all sectors. As for CC pmts his view is bah humbug - ATO could give a rats toss how you pay - just pay.

This is not legal nor is it financial advice ...

 

[Pushka]

But sometimes it's just easier to pick on the small guys and score a quick win.

 

[Jack_OC]

I got hit with GIC for late payment last year (also lodged late - hence late payment!), but no fine or anything specifically because of the late lodgement. GIC isn't technically a fine either, but it may as well be.

 

[Ghostdunks]

As for CC pmts his view is bah humbug - ATO could give a rats toss how you pay - just pay.

I don't think that anyone is particularly worried about using CC for ATO payments from an ATO point of view, after all, they were the ones who offered the ability to pay ATO payments by CC. They don't lose anything regardless of how its paid.

The worry more is with the CC providers, some of which have already "enhanced" their offerings by not paying any reward points or paying 1/2 points on payments to ATO. They are the ones who have to pay for the reward points.

 

[cove]

We used to worry about not having enough points.
Yes this is not financial advice....

 

[albyd]

Hi,

This is slightly OT given it's the ATO thread. I'm likely to have a significant amount of stamp duty payable to OSR in NSW shorty for a property purchase. I'm aware OSR takes credit card payments for land tax but website doesn't show it as an option for stamp duty. Is there another way I can pay my stamp duty & still use my credit card? Would help to take some of the sting out of this payment.

Albyd.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

The worry more is with the CC providers, some of which have already "enhanced" their offerings by not paying any reward points or paying 1/2 points on payments to ATO. They are the ones who have to pay for the reward points.

Not so much a worry as a possibility - but who knows? What are you to do? IMHO the only sensible course of action is to MAXIMISE you FF pts earn on CC spend wherever and however possible - we have no control over the future decisions of CC providors - cashless payments increasing every year - and new alternatives to traditional CCs springing up everwhere.

Personally I think traditional CC providors are going to need to work overtime to maintain their market share - FF pts will be a valuable tool going forward - I can't see much movement by the big 4 - but again who knows. One thing for sure is if there are changes I will never be able to say 'Gee I just wish I had wrung a few more CC pts out of those cards!'

 

[Cruiser Elite]

albyd cannot say so for NSW but cannot for Vic - lord knows I have tried.

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

ahh yes but the company tax rate is dropping too, which is a disappointment for an employee like me. those of you with self owned businesses much less so i suspect!

Many of us as sole director sole shareholder companies will pay the difference on our personal marginal tax on dividends so it makes SFA difference to my company.

 

[Pushka]

I got hit with GIC for late payment last year (also lodged late - hence late payment!), but no fine or anything specifically because of the late lodgement. GIC isn't technically a fine either, but it may as well be.

How late were you?

For some reason we always appear to be in credit by $800 or so. I have no idea why. My books add up.

 

[basso]

Is it sad that when the eventually catch up to you, and put you onto PAYG Instalments, that you do a happy dance.....

 

[Flashback]

How late were you?

For some reason we always appear to be in credit by $800 or so. I have no idea why. My books add up.

I've recently had the same with HMRC ... received a nice cheque in the mail the other day. Odd!

 

[cove]

Tax refunds are almost a curse on this thread unless you CC'd too much and the refund comes from that source. In that case you gain hero/heroine status in this thread on account of making something out of nothing with the ATO.
I haven't been able to pay stamp duty on a credit card but payroll tax for Qld,NSW and Vic are all possible.
I did get to pay the super surcharge bill personally this year but I would have preferred to keep the cash.

 

[Stephen65]

I got hit with GIC for late payment last year (also lodged late - hence late payment!), but no fine or anything specifically because of the late lodgement. GIC isn't technically a fine either, but it may as well be.

You can write to the ATO and request that the GIC be remitted (i.e. cancelled). If you have a good tax record and some reason for being late you're likely to get remission, depending on how late you are and the amount in issue.

https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Corr...s-or-penalties/Remission-of-interest-charges/

 

[caltan82]

Tax refunds are almost a curse on this thread unless you CC'd too much and the refund comes from that source. In that case you gain hero/heroine status in this thread on account of making something out of nothing with the ATO..

In that case you'll like this one... My wife is getting a refund of $10k and i am having to pay $10k net result is $0, but earning a free $10k tax bill to pay...

Easy to do... For example in a family trust you earn $110k profit every year.

Year 1 make an allocation of distribution P1$70k, P2 $40k (Overall Tax rate the same)
Year 2 PAYG payments made on that basis, but at return time make a discretionary distribution of P1$40k, P2$70k
P1 will get a refund, and P2 will get a tax bill of the same amount all other things being equal.
Year 3 Flip the distribution and rinse repeat

Only issue as i can see it is your creating a potential issue to establish earnings when applying for lending, however just take turns at applying for credit...

I discovered this by mistake when i asked my accountant to increase my distribution so i can qualify for Signature/Black type levels of credit...

 

[prozac]

I think I overpaid the tax recently ...about $70k. What has been other's experience of the time taken to reimburse? Generally automatic or necessary to request?

 

[Jack_OC]

I think I overpaid the tax recently ...about $70k. What has been other's experience of the time taken to reimburse? Generally automatic or necessary to request?

Automatic, within a few weeks in my (limited) experience.

 

[burmans]

I think I overpaid the tax recently ...about $70k. What has been other's experience of the time taken to reimburse? Generally automatic or necessary to request?

I was under the impression they do this once a month unless specifically asked, so it could be days up to nearly a month!