ATO (tax office) payments by credit card

[penegal]

I think I am about to be fined quite a reasonable sum, which is extremely frustrating and disappointing... What is wrong with this country? I already pay an enormous amount of tax!


The only [slightly silver] lining is that I believe they take credit cards...

 

[AFY]

Just got a call from Centurion. Yes the 0.5 points reduction to ATO and utility payment will also start on 1st Oct.
And the card will also have a cap of 750,000 points. That makes the card very unattractive specially with 5K (increased from 4300) annual fee
I was hoping that will not apply to Centurion. Looks like have to prepaid tax before 1st OCT.

 

[Pushka]

I think I am about to be fined quite a reasonable sum, which is extremely frustrating and disappointing... What is wrong with this country? I already pay an enormous amount of tax!


The only [slightly silver] lining is that I believe they take credit cards...

I guess if you are about to be fined, then maybe you didn't pay all that tax then?

 

[Moopere]

I guess if you are about to be fined, then maybe you didn't pay all that tax then?

Heh, well yes. But I understand the frustration. Honest mistakes can be made whilst legally trying to reduce payable tax .... no shifty business you understand, and one gets walloped in what seems sometimes like a disproportionate response. Thus the comment ... "whats wrong with this country".

Sometimes it seems like life would be easier to just give up this rather silly game and join a pension/welfare scheme of some type ... or move to a country that has a least a bit of respect for the productive section of society that allows the rest of society to function.

This always brings a smile to my face, and I roll it out sometimes when having good humoured banter with friends who sometimes get confused about whats what:

Dinner & Taxes

 

[penegal]

arghh, now I regret posting that because I look like some kind of naughty criminal

I guess if you are about to be fined, then maybe you didn't pay all that tax then?

The matter in question is petty, and academic at best, and it isn't an income tax matter; In fact, it isn't even a federal matter, it is a state matter in the DPRV.

And for the record, I pay my Australian taxes in full on time (via CC). I do pay more than I would like, but doesn't everyone?

Heh, well yes. But I understand the frustration. Honest mistakes can be made whilst legally trying to reduce payable tax .... no shifty business you understand, and one gets walloped in what seems sometimes like a disproportionate response. Thus the comment ... "whats wrong with this country".

Sometimes it seems like life would be easier to just give up this rather silly game and join a pension/welfare scheme of some type ... or move to a country that has a least a bit of respect for the productive section of society that allows the rest of society to function.

Ahhh, I could write a book about about this, but that would well and truly divert from the topic of this thread

 

[MelUser]

Why doesn't everyone simply use the NAB Platinum Amex and Visa which offer (at this stage) uncapped earning of points.

 

[angusburns]

I have these cards and the amex is OK - 1.5 points per dollar uncapped, but the Visa card is only 2 points for $3 = 2/3 = 0.66 points per $

So yes, quite right, you could use NAB Amex + the Citibank Citibusines or Select Visa cards.

Although I pay my ATO on my Visa cards and everything else on my Amex, where they take Amex, else Visa.
So this Amex points earn on ATO payments reduction is a non-issue for me...

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Why doesn't everyone simply use the NAB Platinum Amex and Visa which offer (at this stage) uncapped earning of points.

Because pts sweep direct to QF do they not? No flexibility to transfer to variety of FF programs.

So this Amex points earn on ATO payments reduction is a non-issue for me...

Yes it is a non issue at this point in time - lets all hope that there are no flow ons to co-branded Amex products going forward mirroring these changes.

 

[cove]

The flood levy is gone.
Hello Carbon Tax!
Goodbye my health insurance rebate from 01/01/2014.
More tax on my super contributions.
Wow the Government has been busy!

 

[Quando Quando]

Quick question do ATO CC payments for a company (Pty Ltd) need to be made using a credit card registered in the company name?

Also can anyone recommend a good Commbank business CC, best I can find are capped to 60,000 points and have a lousy 2:1 QFF transfer ratio....?

 

[penegal]

Quick question do ATO CC payments for a company (Pty Ltd) need to be made using a credit card registered in the company name?

Also can anyone recommend a good Commbank business CC, best I can find are capped to 60,000 points and have a lousy 2:1 QFF transfer ratio....?

From an ATO perspective it is irrelevant.

 

[cove]

No,any name will work so it could be in a persons name.
Big 4 banks only have co-branded Amex cards which can cost you from 0.833 cents per point by earning up to 1.5 points per dollar.
There are at least 6 Visa and MasterCards that earn at least a point per dollar at 0.48 cents per point.
If you need the higher earning rate go Amex.

 

[wafliron]

My father (an accountant, who I informed about paying-tax-on-credit-cards ) sent this to me recently:

Deloitte | Services l Deloitte Private | Tax Telegraph Issue 40, Want a free holiday?

It's quite old (Feb 2011), but still interesting. Seems to confirm that points earned by employees / shareholders of a company paying company bills on their personal (or business) CCs are not subject to either Income Tax or FBT in most cases, although it does contain the following statement in the "Individuals" section:

Where the credit card is used to pay business expenses, then consideration should be given to the Commissioner’s comments in Practice Statement PS LA 2004/4 (GA) about business operators using credit cards to pay for their business expenses. In PS LA 2004/4 (GA), the Commissioner may review points redemption where more than 250,000 points have been accrued per annum in respect of business expenditure.

This is a little ambiguous when contrasted to the information about employees / shareholders lower in the document, but given it's in the "individuals" section maybe suggests the rules are a bit different for sole traders?

The article also suggests (towards the end) that the CPF on Income Tax payments is only deductible if money is not borrowed to pay the tax bill in all cases - I think we've all been working under the assumption that this is the case for individuals, but whether money is borrowed or not to pay the bill is irrelevant for businesses (and hence the CPF always deductible on Income Tax payments for businesses)?

 

[wafliron]

Deleted: double post.

 

[cove]

I paid a couple of ATO accounts over the portal last month rather than calling my ATO girlfriend and she was pretty relaxed about the whole thing. I am not sure if my gifgaff I phone in London will work if I call her long distance.
This month is the quarterly biggie and we are away travelling so it will be a bit of a rush and I think I will go hard and early.

 

[Flashback]

I paid a couple of ATO accounts over the portal last month rather than calling my ATO girlfriend and she was pretty relaxed about the whole thing. I am not sure if my gifgaff I phone in London will work if I call her long distance.
This month is the quarterly biggie and we are away travelling so it will be a bit of a rush and I think I will go hard and early.

You can use my Aussie VOIP line if need be cove, if the dates that I'm available work for you!

 

[robd]

No,any name will work so it could be in a persons name.
Big 4 banks only have co-branded Amex cards which can cost you from 0.833 cents per point by earning up to 1.5 points per dollar.
There are at least 6 Visa and MasterCards that earn at least a point per dollar at 0.48 cents per point.
If you need the higher earning rate go Amex.

Whilst the ATO don't care which name is on the CC, be aware that business purchases on some personal credit cards are not allowed, and the facility will be cancelled if discovered.

 

[cove]

Flashware it should be done by the time I board the SQ flight for LHR. It isn't millions this quarter so a bit of tenacity and it can be handled. I tested the ATO portal credit card and those ones went off ok. London Internet should not crash just because of the Olympics??
I will pay attention to VOIP if you promise to show me!
I would rather not leave home with every credit card loaded to the hilt so my plan is to pay the fiscal fiend then clear the card balances.

 

[Flashback]

Flashware it should be done by the time I board the SQ flight for LHR. It isn't millions this quarter so a bit of tenacity and it can be handled. I tested the ATO portal credit card and those ones went off ok. London Internet should not crash just because of the Olympics??
I will pay attention to VOIP if you promise to show me!
I would rather not leave home with every credit card loaded to the hilt so my plan is to pay the fiscal fiend then clear the card balances.

Sounds good and can do. We'll have to do afternoon tea with the view (and by we.. I mean Fi too, she's good for the count now and looking forward to catching up!)

 

[cove]

On the card cancelling thought I have spoken or been messaged by several who have had their cards stopped by HSBC with the Woolies EDR. I tend to use that one for lots of personal stuff and they only stopped it when I bought 2 big items in a day.
The folks whose cards got canned did have quite a bit of ATO and not much else but they got no fair opportunity to discuss the matter so that was not very nice. Recently they raised my credit limit on Woolies EDR so that was a good sign.