ATO (tax office) payments by credit card

[cove]

Citi US have given us limit increases automatically and because we have both cards on auto pay our credit scores are heading towards perfection.

 

[burnt]

Cove, do you have the payment to the US Citi card made from a US dollar account here or in US, or how do you pay?

Just for Albyd, Hilton redemptions in Egypt (most places) seem to be running at 5000 (5 thousand) HH points per night. Great if you want to risk Egypt.

 

[albyd]

Hi burnt thanks for the heads up about Egypt. Agree with you on the risk bit. So how much AUD do you need to put down for a 5000 point room in Egypt?
Re: payment of the Citi US card, I have a Citi US checking account I fund from Australia and top ups from that account to the card via online banking are pretty much instant. Hoping to get a bigger limit shortly to facilitate bigger payments.

 

[cove]

We have a US Bank account. Both Citi US credit cards get auto paid from it along with Macy's and Nordstrom credit cards. We picked a US bank branch that is walking distance from us when we are living in California so it is very convenient and about 10 minutes from LAX.

 

[oinkoink]

I've trawled through the lsat few threads and can't find anything. I've previously used my HSBC Qantas or ANZ Rewards Black, am I right in thinking that neither of these now work?

 

[Uncle BJ]

I've trawled through the lsat few threads and can't find anything. I've previously used my HSBC Qantas or ANZ Rewards Black, am I right in thinking that neither of these now work?

My understanding oinkoink is that no ANZ card (with the exception of the ANZ Business Black which gives rewards points which, when converted to QFF points, are of little value comparatively) now earns QFF points with the ATO. Certainly my ANZ FF Black has stopped doing so since 27 March 2016.

 

[baggas]

I've trawled through the lsat few threads and can't find anything. I've previously used my HSBC Qantas or ANZ Rewards Black, am I right in thinking that neither of these now work?

HSBC is kaput; so is ANZ.
Bankwest World still pays for now but has been reduced to 0.66 after June 20.
Qantas Credit Union I believe is active but involves a horrendous application process.
And the mysterious Bank Australia, which is often mentioned but of which I am yet to see a definite report of ATO points earn...?

 

[oinkoink]

HSBC is kaput; so is ANZ.
Bankwest World still pays for now but has been reduced to 0.66 after June 20.
Qantas Credit Union I believe is active but involves a horrendous application process.
And the mysterious Bank Australia, which is often mentioned but of which I am yet to see a definite report of ATO points earn...?

Well that's POO!!

 

[hossein_au]

Re: payment of the Citi US card, I have a Citi US checking account I fund from Australia and top ups from that account to the card via online banking are pretty much instant. Hoping to get a bigger limit shortly to facilitate bigger payments.

Do you know if I can transfer money rom my AUS Citi savings account to US credit account? I think this is what Citi calls Global Transfer, right?

 

[aspro2]

HSBC is kaput

Ummm, not in my last statement. My BAS payment on 27 April yielded points as normal. (HSBC Platinum Qantas Visa )

 

[cove]

I just use Bell FX as they can get the funds to where I want at a fair price and quickly.
May BAS will be interesting as two CCs have points earn changes on June 20 and the good news is I process earlier than that.

 

[baggas]

Check your recent statements. My March HSBC statement finishes with a clause that specifically renders ATO payments ineligible, as of 1st May.

 

[Scr77]

Ummm, not in my last statement. My BAS payment on 27 April yielded points as normal. (HSBC Platinum Qantas Visa )

Yes, I agree with Baggas. That was probably your last go. I cancelled my card.

 

[albyd]

Do you know if I can transfer money rom my AUS Citi savings account to US credit account? I think this is what Citi calls Global Transfer, right?

You can transfer money using Citi online banking to your Citi Us account. I've only ever transferred to my Citi US checking account. I'm assuming US credit card could be possible too.
The exchange rate is nothing flash so would only do it for small top ups which are non-economic to do through money transfer services (i.e. Some charge $10 for transfers <$10k).

 

[cove]

OK we need a Guinea Pig for Citi to Citi US trial to report the fees and exchange rate applied compared with say the Hifx rate at that moment. I don't need it but I am curious.

 

[hossein_au]

OK we need a Guinea Pig for Citi to Citi US trial to report the fees and exchange rate applied compared with say the Hifx rate at that moment. I don't need it but I am curious.

Would have been happy to test, except that Citi web site does not allow me to register "Global transfer" between my Aus and Citi accounts :-(

 

[albyd]

I've just logged into Citi online and mocked up a transfer of $US10 from my Aussie account to my US account.
Effective rate is $A1=$US0.6982
IRESS live feed shows $A1=$US0.7199
HiFX (this is the first time I've used it) Shows $A1=$US0.719

Having said that, last night I did my ATO run with Citi US CC, I'm usually within points of spot on the "pending" amount, my effective rate was $A1=$0.7211 with Spot at $A1=$US0.7162 at the time. Seems to depend on the time of day you transact. Not going to be the end of the world (I hedge straight away when AUD is falling to minimise risk, but not the cheapest points I've bought - esp when AUD was rising recently and I took a punt on waiting for it to increase further before hedging).

 

[cove]

Often I can go Citi US and the final real cost for the AA miles is around zero as you get time to book the funds after you have paid the ATO on your US CC.

 

[albyd]

Hi Cove,

Do you mean that where your limit is not exceeded by your payment, you're able to take advantage of the interest free period on your CC to time your FX to Citi to cover your "purchase"? I only do this when the AUD is rising. Otherwise, I don't risk it when the AUD is falling in case it goes against me and those points cost me a lot more than I bargained for.

I'm thinking Citi CC FX rate spread to spot seems to depend on time of day. My last payment was on 25 April 3pm afternoon and pending rate was 0.7706 vs spot at 0.77 even. When it posted, it was 0.7695 which was pretty good.
This time, did it at 10:30pm and got 0.7211 vs spot at 0.7162.

Have you observed this sort of variance? I've not been able to get much guidance from Citi on how they set the rate so just assumed it was spot based on past experience.
Hope I'm not taking us too far OT.

 

[daft009]

I've just started using a bankwest platinum creditcard for ATO payments.
hoping to apply for another card to split points in between.

can't see many other options now for high spends (~$200k/yr)??
was thinking macquarie but looks like thats going/gone.

I guess the qantas one is the only option? which seems to have rebranded recently to Qudos? https://www.qudosbank.com.au/Products/CreditCards/VisaPlatinum
What's so difficult about the application process?