ATO (tax office) payments by credit card

[ksthommo]

Here's the link;

https://www.optussmartpay.com/governmenteasypay-ato/

 

[serfty]

Interesting ... it seems almost every refernce on "How to Pay" has been removed.

ATO - Document not available

This document is not available on the ATO web site.

 

[Mal]

Thanks for the direct link. I just paid my tax using it, and a receipt was issued -- so I assume it's a valid payment. It is weird that seemingly all references to the trial have been removed from the ATO website.

I do think it's interesting that on the back of the Notice of Assessment, it says:
"Payments cannot be made by credit card or in person at any ATO branch or ATOaccess site" (this was also mentioned earlier in the thread).

Hopefully my payment goes through ok. At least I have a receipt to prove I've paid!

 

[MAX_1]

Not sure if its worth paying by Credit Card.

With Amex a charge of 1.02% is added. Considering that MR redeems at $100 per 10,000 points,then unless the points earn is more than 1:1 there is no net gain, in fact a slight net loss.

With Mcard or Visa, earn rate of 1:1 would be a slight gain but 0.5:1 would end up with a net loss.

 

[Mal]

Not sure if its worth paying by Credit Card.

My assumption is that the payment fee that I paid is a legitimate cost of dealing with my tax affairs, and will become a deduction next year, so the actual cost isn't really 1.02% for Amex.

Either way, even at 1.02% I think for most people they value Amex points around that amount (esp if converted to hotel/airline points).

 

[wallacej]

Not sure if its worth paying by Credit Card.

With Amex a charge of 1.02% is added. Considering that MR redeems at $100 per 10,000 points,then unless the points earn is more than 1:1 there is no net gain, in fact a slight net loss.

With Mcard or Visa, earn rate of 1:1 would be a slight gain but 0.5:1 would end up with a net loss.

With AMEX altitude earning 2 pts per dollar for a gold card or a platinum card at 3 per dollar, would this make it more appealing??

 

[serfty]

With AMEX altitude earning 2 pts per dollar for a gold card or a platinum card at 3 per dollar, would this make it more appealing??

See the following posts (even at 1½ it's quite appealing):

Hmm, this becomes interesting with Amex.

$1000 in BAS payment has a nett cost of $1010.20 and can earn me 1515 MR points ... I (personally) value MR points at at least 2½¢ each so for $10.20 I'm getting at least ~$42 in value by using Amex.

... Deduct your tax rate and you have your real net cost for the points and yes it is pretty low. ...

Good point about the possible tax deductibility of the charge - that reduced the effective cost in my $1K example to ~$6.92 for those 1,515 MR points.

I refer to Amex, as the card I'd employ is a Plat, uncapped, with Bonus 50% for first $100Kpa - unlike my (and most) Visa's.

 

[serfty]

The pages are still gone. It's not just paying by credit card, it's "How to Pay" in general.

See here: Businesses

Mouse over "Make a Tax Payment" on the left hand menu and click on the "How To Pay" pop up option.

Maybe they are no longer accepting payments - in any form ...

(I actually am thinking they may be in the process of updating thse pages).

 

[albatross710]

The pages are still gone. It's not just paying by credit card, it's "How to Pay" in general.

See here: Businesses

Mouse over "Make a Tax Payment" on the left hand menu and click on the "How To Pay" pop up option.

Maybe they are no longer accepting payments - in any form ...

(I actually am thinking they may be in the process of updating thse pages).

I did some google searches and found references which said that the original April trial was for 'two months'. Hopefully they will be continuing with the credit card payments.

 

[auriga]

Bad news for Amex...

It's back working, but the charges have changed.


Note: The ATO charges a card payment fee of:

• 0.65% for VISA and MasterCard transactions and
• 1.25% for American Express transactions.

Please note: These amounts came into effect on Tuesday 3 November 2009. Previous fees were 0.67% for Visa/MasterCard payments and 1.02% for American Express.

 

[WA flyer]

Re: Bad news for Amex...

It's back working, but the charges have changed.



Note: The ATO charges a card payment fee of:

• 0.65% for VISA and MasterCard transactions and
• 1.25% for American Express transactions.

Please note: These amounts came into effect on Tuesday 3 November 2009. Previous fees were 0.67% for Visa/MasterCard payments and 1.02% for American Express.

It must have been the almost $100k I just paid

At around $1000 in fees for nearly 300k of points (3:1 Krisflyer), I was more than happy to pay. If it's a tax concession better still.

 

[cove]

Ok we can pay BAS of $10,000 for an Amex Ultimate rate of 1.25% from our ATO(TAX OFFICE).
New cost is $10,125 for MR 15,187 points (unlimited 1.5 point rate).
Out of the $125 comes the GST of 10% ? and then your tax rate/deduction which means a high BAS payer,high tax rate payer may never need to stay home ever again.
Using the maximums I think you get $11.36 GST back plus $52.84 tax reduction for a net cost of $60.80 real money.
See you out there!

 

[albatross710]

Out of the $125 comes the GST of 10% ?

I was advised that the ATO charge did not include GST. A search of the ATO website doesn't actually make it clearer as I found this decision:

ATO ID 2008/116 - GST and credit card surcharge for payment of an Australian tax, fee or charge

Accordingly, the additional amount charged by an entity for the payment of Australian taxes, fees and charges by credit card is not consideration for a taxable supply under section 9-5 of the GST Act.

I think that means no GST. would appreciate interpretation by others more knowledgeable.

 

[oz_mark]

I was advised that the ATO charge did not include GST. A search of the ATO website doesn't actually make it clearer as I found this decision:

As stated on the How To Pay - credit cards page (my emphasis)

http://www.ato.gov.au/businesses/content.asp?doc=/content/33696.htm&page=3#P44_1403

Card payment fee
A card payment fee applies to transactions made using this service. This fee is the non-GST component of the fee the ATO incurs from its banker for these transactions.

 

[Mal]

I think that means no GST. would appreciate interpretation by others more knowledgeable.

The receipt doesn't show that it is a "Tax Invoice", nor does it separate the fee paid into GST/Fee. Somehow I think that implies that there is no GST component.

 

[cove]

Thanks for confirming the no GST at the ATO.
The calculation of the real cost of earning 15187 points per $10,000 BAS payment really gets down to the tax deducted cost of $125 transaction charge which could be from $125 for a zero taxpayer to $66.88 for a top tax rate payer.

 

[albatross710]

Thanks for confirming the no GST at the ATO.
The calculation of the real cost of earning 15187 points per $10,000 BAS payment really gets down to the tax deducted cost of $125 transaction charge which could be from $125 for a zero taxpayer to $66.88 for a top tax rate payer.

Also worth factoring in if it is within the company structure with other shareholders. Hypothetically the charge would reduce the company profit and then this reduction is shared across the shareholders in proportion to their shares. They may not share the points though.

 

[wallacej]

The pages are still gone. It's not just paying by credit card, it's "How to Pay" in general.

See here: Businesses

Mouse over "Make a Tax Payment" on the left hand menu and click on the "How To Pay" pop up option.

Maybe they are no longer accepting payments - in any form ...

(I actually am thinking they may be in the process of updating thse pages).

Not accepting payment!!! WOO HOO... party time lol (I think the update theory is probably more likely though)

 

[Slats7]

So if I have a $20k BAS due can I pay in 2 x $10,000 transactions on the same credit card?

 

[Flashback]

So if I have a $20k BAS due can I pay in 2 x $10,000 transactions on the same credit card?

That's correct.