ATO (tax office) payments by credit card

[BillytheFIsh]

...
I pay my PAYG with a Visa earning 1:1 ... So for all those using an Amex and paying 3.5x more in fees, what's the attraction? ...

I guess it's opportunity cost.

i.e. Someone may have $30K per year in ATO to pay and the cost of $345 to garner, say, 45000 points is more useful than paying $126 to garner 30000 points.

I agree with serty. Also, it's (relatively) easy to get Visa/MC cards that pay 1 QF pt/$ on ATO (which I assume is the points you are talking about), but not so for other FF programs, where Visa/MC all pay < 1 pt/$, which makes Amex at 1.5pt/$ more attractive.

 

[Gold Member]

A new menu merely hinted about in their normal menu.

Please don't tell me its Luke Mangan 'inspired'

 

[BillytheFIsh]

Yeah I guess so. In this scenario, you're paying $219 for 15K points. I'd suggest that's higher than most people value them at (not just QFF points) ...

Yep, your maths holds for QF points - so that works out to be 1.46 cents/pt for those extra points, which each individual needs to decide if it's worth it to them and that depends on a whole range of things. Unless I particularly needed QF points for some reason I personally would pass.

Because of the lower Visa/MC earn rate on VA or SQ (for example), the effective cost per point for those extra Amex points comes down a fair bit, so that's why people think it's worth it.

Also, people tend not to do the marginal cost calculations like you have done when thinking about it and look at the cost overall. 1.5 real point per dollar @ 1.45% surcharge is <1 cent per point which I think is a mental barrier for many.

 

[amaroo]

I guess it's opportunity cost.

i.e. Someone may have $30K per year in ATO to pay and the cost of $345 to garner, say, 45000 points is more useful than paying $126 to garner 30000 points.

A few extra points....

Pessimistic outlook on how long the ATO dividend is going to last - banks/cards are being eliminated at an incredible rate ... make hay while the sun shines!

Limited V/MC that earn at 1P/$ - they also have a nasty habit of getting cancelled if you work them hard

Accumulating for a family = a truckload of additional points required

I agree that points can be earned cheaper .... the last few months SWMBO & I have clocked up around 300,000QFFP in CC offers however, these avenues have their limitations and are not a monthly gig

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

Business idea: setup a credit card payment to EFT gateway, charge 1%, negotiate a .80% or lower rate with Visa/MC, pay any EFT payment with a credit card!

 

[cove]

Well it was 3 weeks early but the points have been earned in the warehouse on both land tax and ATO. Have paid forward 2 months so far and I may do some more.
I did put some land tax on my AA points earning US credit cards.
Credit card rates have moved up a bit due to so many premium cards being used so our old 0.87% rate is long gone and resides with the dodo.

 

[cove]

I don't know if others are feeling the changes but I now have more credit cards in my wallets that don't pay points on ATO than do. Earth Black and Altitude Black only have one week left and they were favourites.
I need to do a tester on Woolies since the Silver Donut took over that MasterCard.

 

[get me outta here]

Yes please cove, we are relying on you to lead us out of the cc-ATO desert.

 

[Pushka]

We are a pretty good bunch here. But just a tip for a newbie, it's a good idea to hang around awhile before telling people to jump in the lake.

And that advice which was offered was exactly what I might say about not ringing the bank. It was just a comment that has been made throughout the thread.

You might not have time to read all the thread but there is a lot of good info there. You can also search the thread using the search function which saves a lot of time.

I know you want answers quickly as do we all but I'm also mindful we expect things too quickly these days.

Hang around though as you will learn a lot from people esp in this thread and the other credit card ones. I've learnt so much on this forum.

Am I in the drink now too

 

[PLANT]

My Silver donut card pays 1:1 ATO annual fee free but will probably lose fee free on renewal due to a lean ATO year... Under 50k....

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

My Silver donut card pays 1:1 ATO annual fee free but will probably lose fee free on renewal due to a lean ATO year... Under 50k....

This is a good indication that the WWEDR card might be safe (for now) as usually these are system wide changes across all products.

Let us all live in hope and henceforth worship the silver doughnut...

 

[DaveB]

I will happily pay the annual fee if there is some relaxation on the monthly amounts they used to accept.
Card is only useful for the game and will use the upcoming October PAYG as a tester allocating 3x my normal monthly activity for this card.

 

[penegal]

...haven't had much success with the Citi dining rewards either.

Has anybody?

Two places across the road from my office happily provide the free bottle of wine. The thing is - it's actually had the opposite effect of making me go there less because if I do go there, I can't help myself and there goes the rest of my day's productivity.

The free bottle of wine tends to be fairly average plonk anyway (in some cases undrinkable). Usually it is the "house wine", and in some cases they have specific plonk (below house) for citi customers.

Many restaurant staff don't realise that they are a part of the program, so I have found myself explaining it to them before. On one occasion I got "my pick" of the wine list, which was surely a mistake, but I didn't abuse the privilege (I selected a solid "mid range" cab).

 

[cove]

Time is fast running out for using Westpac Black Altitude to warehouse points off ATO payments. This morning I finished my " pay it forward" project and my account will be zero once the transactions all post. Today I am feeling satisfied but impoverished.
Westpac Black Earth is in the same category and I think November 6th would be the last day to use any of these cards for ATO seeing processing can be delayed.

 

[prozac]

I will continue to use the (oops! now edited) Altitude Black combo for all other purchases where the Amex Plat Edge isn't effective. The PlatEdge has 3 points at supermarkets (even IGA) and 2 points for fuel purchases. Maybe small beer for some of our hi-rollers but still part of my staple diet of fee-free points. .
The Black combo still has value when you pull into the wrong servo by mistake (Caltex Star) but can still get bonus points, and for the 1.5 effective points for general amex shopping.



edit: Waiting patiently for another BP bonus points scam...sorry promotion.

 

[Buzzard]

I called Qantas about the Qantas Cash card. While it is limited to AUD 100,000.00 per annum, the lady at card services was adamant I can use it to pay for the ATO and with an earn rate of 2QF for every $1 spent she said.

Sounds a bit too good to be true, any one else have experience with this?

Never used the Qantas Cash Card.
I think you should give it a go and report back.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Time is fast running out for using Westpac Black Altitude to warehouse points off ATO payments.

Time is running out FULL STOP for this card IMHO. I think it would be prudent for all those considering using SQ Amex for ATO pmts to transfer all your Amex usage from Black to SQ Amex - YES I am critically aware of direct sweep to KF v warehouse in Alt but the last thing we want is Westpac attempting to induce SQ to 'enhance' these cards if ATO pmts are representing above normal % of card spend mix.

Of course we are all free to choose whichever course of action / whichever mix of CC usage suits our own individual needs. Due to cancelling original Alt Black and successfully re-applying for new Alt Black with 3mth 2 x pts earn I received a 100% credit for annual fee on 1st card - so I have no fee to pay for Alt Black now for 18mths - I will retain these cards and see what the future holds - will definitely not be using them post Nov 8 or 9 or whatever the date is.

 

[ETA_2022]

...earn rate of 2QF for every $1 spent she said.

Sounds a bit too good to be true, any one else have experience with this?

Unless I'm looking at the wrong card, when spending on the The Qantas Cash Card you, according to the website, Earn one Qantas Point for every
$2 spent in Australian dollars*, not 2 Qantas Points for every $1 spent.

 

[PLANT]

Already corrected him on that!

 

[Pushka]

I thought that as we met the criteria for 2 weeks grace on BAS then the due date is 11 November. When I checked today the ATO portal said it was overdue?