ATO (tax office) payments by credit card

[_TheTraveller_]

Are there any issues with using Beem with a personal NAB card given the discussions have been around dragon.

 

[Scr77]

Are there any issues with using Beem with a personal NAB card given the discussions have been around dragon.

Shouldn’t be a problem. The most rewarding opportunities come from poking and seeing how you go.

 

[here2go]

Signed up to YakPay using a referral from @daft009 . The sweet spot imo is the Mastercard at 0.8% fee. The site is easy to use and you can schedule future payments. I paid $50k to a supplier today that had to charge 2% for card fee, but only 0.8% using YakPay. Brilliant. PLUS you get bonus QANTAS or Virgin points at the rate of 1 for every $10 spent. So in my case today and bonus 5,000 QFF points.
This is the link to the referral thread - YakPay Referral Program

Plus your account integrate with MYOB or XEROX reports

Except with HSBC World Premier Mastercard. YakPay said interchange fee is 1.95%!

Post automatically merged: Apr 25, 2023

I have made a couple of ATO and supplier payments using YakPay and very happy with the way it works for 0.8% on Mastercard. The additional Qantas points (or Virgin) are nice to receive as well. FF points are earned at the rate 1 point for every $10 spend. This is in addition to the points earned on your credit card.

Except with HSBC World Premier Mastercard, where the interchange fee is 1.95%

 

[prozac]

Except with HSBC World Premier Mastercard. YakPay said interchange fee is 1.95%!

Post automatically merged: Apr 25, 2023

Except with HSBC World Premier Mastercard, where the interchange fee is 1.95%

Then I'd be inclined to use a different card.

 

[here2go]

Then I'd be inclined to use a different card.

I do. It's annoying that HSBC say the card is Australian issued. I've had a few challenges with it - Beem won't recognise it either.

 

[prozac]

I do. It's annoying that HSBC say the card is Australian issued. I've had a few challenges with it - Beem won't recognise it either.

Visa is 1.1% so paying around 40% more than MC. Conversion to airline miles at typical 1:3 calculates to 1.9c per airline mile for the MC.

 

[turnipapple]

Are there any issues with using Beem with a personal NAB card given the discussions have been around dragon.

Works fine for me.

 

[Franko Costa]

If one thinks it is great value of paying 0.8% of the MC and paying ATO bills, then why don't you use Revolut? One could use most visa cards and transfer money from credit card to your bank account by paying a 0.76% fee and use the cash to pay off ATO bill.

Unless I am missing something?

 

[albyd]

Is Revolut 0.76%? I thought it was 1% and many banks treat it as a cash advance. Dragon - its parent does treat it as a cash advance so assuming this change is coming. hasn't but I don't know how long that will last though the 1% fee makes it uneconomic. Happy to be corrected on any of this.

 

[Franko Costa]

Is Revolut 0.76%? I thought it was 1% and many banks treat it as a cash advance. Dragon - its parent does treat it as a cash advance so assuming this change is coming. hasn't but I don't know how long that will last though the 1% fee makes it uneconomic. Happy to be corrected on any of this.

Yes revolut is 0.76 and wise is 1%.

I use the Dragon on this and it isn't charged like a cash advance (I get full points)

 

[Fungus]

Hi AFFers - I have just discovered my lowly Green Amex charge card earns 1.5 pts for all purchases except govt where it is 1.0 pt. No cap. I’ve been ignoring this for years in favour of using Platinum Edge but certainly won’t be in the future for anything other than supermarkets / petrol.

However I am wondering if it is worth paying the 1.45% surcharge levied by the ATO when paying a tax bill? I’m on the standard Ascent programme and the earn rate works out to be 69 pts per $1. Considering Amex charge 200 pts per $1 for credit to the account it looks like a very bad deal.

If I claimed the surcharge as a deduction like I normally do the earn rate would improve to 115 pts per $1, but this would be a particularly large amount for me as it’s CGT related, so it might raise a red flag.

Am I missing something? Keen to hear from the experts…

 

[exceladdict]

Hi AFFers - I have just discovered my lowly Green Amex charge card earns 1.5 pts for all purchases except govt where it is 1.0 pt. No cap. I’ve been ignoring this for years in favour of using Platinum Edge but certainly won’t be in the future for anything other than supermarkets / petrol.

However I am wondering if it is worth paying the 1.45% surcharge levied by the ATO when paying a tax bill? I’m on the standard Ascent programme and the earn rate works out to be 69 pts per $1. Considering Amex charge 200 pts per $1 for credit to the account it looks like a very bad deal.

If I claimed the surcharge as a deduction like I normally do the earn rate would improve to 115 pts per $1, but this would be a particularly large amount for me as it’s CGT related, so it might raise a red flag.

Am I missing something? Keen to hear from the experts…

Why do you feel it would raise a red flag?

 

[Fungus]

Why do you feel it would raise a red flag?

I’m pretty sure the ATO software looks at trends, so if all of a sudden I claim 100x more than normal, it could trigger something…

 

[exceladdict]

I’m pretty sure the ATO software looks at trends, so if all of a sudden I claim 100x more than normal, it could trigger something…

True, I would be surprised if it doesn't, alongside trends for your occupation and other variables to identify things a certain number of deviations from the mean.

But if what you are claiming is legit, is there a need to be concerned? If in doubt create an (anonymous if necessary) account on the ATO community and ask for feedback on what you can and can't do, it's pretty helpful.

 

[andye]

Hi AFFers - I have just discovered my lowly Green Amex charge card earns 1.5 pts for all purchases except govt where it is 1.0 pt. No cap. I’ve been ignoring this for years in favour of using Platinum Edge but certainly won’t be in the future for anything other than supermarkets / petrol.

However I am wondering if it is worth paying the 1.45% surcharge levied by the ATO when paying a tax bill? I’m on the standard Ascent programme and the earn rate works out to be 69 pts per $1. Considering Amex charge 200 pts per $1 for credit to the account it looks like a very bad deal.

If I claimed the surcharge as a deduction like I normally do the earn rate would improve to 115 pts per $1, but this would be a particularly large amount for me as it’s CGT related, so it might raise a red flag.

Am I missing something? Keen to hear from the experts…

I presume you are talking about paying the ATO directly with your card. This rarely makes sense as ATO payments have a reduced Amex earn. Paying via a payment processor (keep going up thread for a few months) is usually better especially if you can justify a tax deduction.

 

[Fungus]

I presume you are talking about paying the ATO directly with your card. This rarely makes sense as ATO payments have a reduced Amex earn. Paying via a payment processor (keep going up thread for a few months) is usually better especially if you can justify a tax deduction.

I am. The Green Amex doesn’t - it’s 1:1 for ATO payments. And 1.5:1 for everything else.

So do you think it makes sense under both scenarios, or only if I claim the surcharge as a deduction?

 

[andye]

So given to 2 MR:1 airline point conversion, you'd be paying over 2.9 c per airline point with no deduction and at best 1.6c per point with a personal tax threshold deduction.
The max I would pay for an SQ mile (say) is 1.5c and prefer <1c.
You could probably do better with a processor (and earn 1.5MR/$) with deducting tax & GST but I think you are right to be wary of paying CGT being a business expense (unless is was from the sale of an investment property etc)

 

[Fungus]

So given to 2 MR:1 airline point conversion, you'd be paying over 2.9 c per airline point with no deduction and at best 1.6c per point with a personal tax threshold deduction.
The max I would pay for an SQ mile (say) is 1.5c and prefer <1c.
You could probably do better with a processor (and earn 1.5MR/$) with deducting tax & GST but I think you are right to be wary of paying CGT being a business expense (unless is was from the sale of an investment property etc)

Appreciate the analysis and suggestions.

I don’t fly a lot anymore and when I do, it’s normally been with QF which you can’t transfer the points to. I’ve used them for hotel stays in the past so that could be an option. To be honest I’m just accumulating QFF and MR points with no real plans for them. The last time I used a stack of both was 10yrs ago on a trip to Japan for 3wks flying J and staying in SPG and Hyatt hotels.

I have no experience with payment processors but found this Point Hacks article:

How individuals can earn full points with Sniip

Sniip is a nifty tool that allows you to earn credit card reward points with billers that don't normally accept Amex or other credit cards.

www.pointhacks.com.au

Sniip does seem to be at the lower end charging 2.189% all up. I’ve yet to assess how legitimate these sort of businesses are as the last thing I’d want to do is use them and find the payment just disappears into thin air.

According to Pointshack 1 MR pt = 1.2c. Does this sound reasonable?

This tax bill is as a result of selling an investment property so I’ll have to check with the accountant as it may be fine to claim the fee as a deduction.

 

[Duffa]

Is Revolut 0.76%? I thought it was 1% and many banks treat it as a cash advance. Dragon - its parent does treat it as a cash advance so assuming this change is coming. hasn't but I don't know how long that will last though the 1% fee makes it uneconomic. Happy to be corrected on any of this.

Run this one past me again.
Gesicht maintains that a person can transfer money from a credit card onto Revolut and this won't be charged as a cash advance? Can someone else confirm this before I jump, please?
Happy to pay the 0.76

 

[albyd]

Depending on the bank. I've found Dragon is currently not charging though their parent company is for cards which they issue so just a matter of time. Revolut have now introduced a charge of 0.76% which means that any points you'll generate with that card using this "method" will cost you 1c/point - it's up to you whether you think this is worthwhile - until Dragon starts treating it as a cash advance and then the numbers likely won't stack up for anyone.