ATO (tax office) payments by credit card

[Duffa]

I think you can use a Citi card to get Velocity points to get Etihad flights.

Correct, Cove.
About 250k points return to Dublin for our new member.
Availability not that great though.
Citi Emirates card at 1.5 per dollar and 230k points to DUB is an alternative.

 

[Jack_OC]

Correct, Cove.
About 250k points return to Dublin for our new member.
Availability not that great though.
Citi Emirates card at 1.5 per dollar and 230k points to DUB is an alternative.

Thanks for the replies. I already have a Westpac Altitude Platinum, which also allows transfers to Velocity, so that might be an option. Is that 250k for economy or business though? With Etihad, a business return is about 280k, and I recently booked one and there was no problem with availability. Also can you use Velocity points for upgrades on Etihad flights? Another advantage of Etihad for me is that I have set up the family membership option, which basically means I get the points when my folks travel with Etihad or partners too.

Emirates might be worth considering, but not sure I want a card locked into Emirates points only. I'm thinking maybe another option could be QF - especially with the impending alliance with Emirates? I also have QF Gold status and travel a fair bit with them through work, so it wouldn't exactly be a bad thing if I ended up with a load of extra QF points, but not quite as beneficial as Etihad in my case. And also I hear QF redemptions/upgrades on international flights have never been easy to get.

 

[cove]

There are Citi Select, Citi Signature and Citi Platinum that you can choose from to earn Velocity points and/or others in the non Qantas cards.
Being a creature of habit I can tell you only about Singapore Air and Qantas so my view is probably too restricted to be fair and balanced.
Paying ATO on an Amex is very expensive now compared with Visa if you look at the recently updated post
one that displays the percentage cost.
Citi Select has barriers to entry but produces the best results for Visa points per dollar.

 

[The Rok]

There are Citi Select, Citi Signature and Citi Platinum that you can choose from to earn Velocity points and/or others in the non Qantas cards.
Being a creature of habit I can tell you only about Singapore Air and Qantas so my view is probably too restricted to be fair and balanced.
Paying ATO on an Amex is very expensive now compared with Visa if you look at the recently updated post
one that displays the percentage cost.
Citi Select has barriers to entry but produces the best results for Visa points per dollar.

Unfortunately neither SQ nor QF fly to Dublin!




Sent from AFF Mobile Edition

 

[Jack_OC]

Unfortunately neither SQ nor QF fly to Dublin!

Correct, and although you can connect from Heathrow, I can't put into words how much of an ordeal I have found that in the past!! However, I think that once the QF/Emirates partnership is up and running you will be able to book a QF ticket to Dublin via Dubai (codesharing with Emirates on the second leg). So things might be looking up there.

There are Citi Select, Citi Signature and Citi Platinum that you can choose from to earn Velocity points and/or others in the non Qantas cards.
Being a creature of habit I can tell you only about Singapore Air and Qantas so my view is probably too restricted to be fair and balanced.
Paying ATO on an Amex is very expensive now compared with Visa if you look at the recently updated post
one that displays the percentage cost.
Citi Select has barriers to entry but produces the best results for Visa points per dollar.

Yes looks like using an Amex now is a waste of time, given the increased fee and reduced points earn rate. So despite my preference for Etihad Miles, I think I'll have to do something else (unless anyone is aware of a non-Amex card that allows transfers to Etihad?). The Citi Select looks good, so I might look into that. Quick question though, when you say "barriers to entry", do you mean a certain level of income, or some other more mysterious factors?!

 

[cove]

There is the proof of income which generally requires a tax assessment and then there is the Citi back office. There have been recent improvements with the back office and my last 3 phone calls went perfectly.
You can transfer to Velocity and book Etihad flights I believe but I have not done that to see if that works.

 

[Jack_OC]

There is the proof of income which generally requires a tax assessment and then there is the Citi back office. There have been recent improvements with the back office and my last 3 phone calls went perfectly.
You can transfer to Velocity and book Etihad flights I believe but I have not done that to see if that works.

Thanks for the info re Citi, I might go ahead with that and see how I go.

RE Velocity, just had a good read of their website, and yes you can definitely use points to book reward flights with Etihad, which is good. You can also redeem for reward flights with their other partners including SQ. And they also say the following, which is not something I've seen with other programs:
Any Seat, Any Airline
Relax in the knowledge that if you can’t find the Reward Seat or Any Seat you want with Virgin Australia and our international airline partners, you can redeem your Points for Any Seat on any other airline around the world^. Any Seat refers to seats in any fare class commercially available to the general public.

So anyway, it looks like it's a good program in terms of reward options. The only downside is, I have confirmed that you can NOT use Velocity points for upgrades with Etihad, and strangely, you can't even use Velocity points to upgrade on VA flights to Abu Dhabi (or the US). That's a shame, as often upgrades are the most beneficial. For example, last time I went to Ireland I booked myself and my daughter in economy, and was then able to upgrade us both to business on all sectors. Saved about $12k versus the full fare, for about the same amount of points as 2 economy redemptions (which would have been worth about $4k).

 

[cove]

If you start a Citi points warehouse be aware that Singapore Air do not generally allow Velocity points to get into premium cabins and really the success with them is based on you putting points across to Kris Flyer directly.

 

[kpc]

I can confirm you can book award seats on Etihad using Velocity points. I booked on the Velocity website a Syd-Auh-Ath return in J for next year for 244300 Velocity points and $0 taxes / surcharges. Cancellation is only $60 or 7500 Velocity points.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Unfortunately neither SQ nor QF fly to Dublin!

Sent from AFF Mobile Edition

An alternative oneworld way to Dublin is with IB from Madrid; of course, you have to get to Madrid first but I prefer to transit there rather than LHR. JV

 

[amaroo]

An alternative oneworld way to Dublin is with IB from Madrid; of course, you have to get to Madrid first but I prefer to transit there rather than LHR. JV

Great spot for a stop over........the food, the food!

 

[Newk]

I had a pretty good trip earlier this year Qantas to Frankfurt and the Aer Lingus to Dublin. But I doubt you can get the last leg on points or even get points for it unless you have a certain fare class

 

[drross]

Great spot for a stop over........the food, the food!

agree wholeheartedly

 

[cove]

My prepayment to Medibank Private before the rule changes last year moved into a ridiculous stage. So many of us rushed for it that the rebate got pulled and I heard the Fiscal Fiend is offering to fine us if we don't disclose our taxable income.
I advised my income to Medibank Private and several months of prepaid cover have been peeled off and my new monthly rate kicks in months earlier now than December 31,2013.
At least I earned about 10k of Kris points on my Citi Select card as I paid for the whole family.

 

[Pushka]

Cove, are you saying that the pre payments didn't stop the reduction in rebate for over the threshold incomes? So the health funds have been the only beneficiaries then, other than any points credited.

 

[Pukka]

Cove, are you saying that the pre payments didn't stop the reduction in rebate for over the threshold incomes? So the health funds have been the only beneficiaries then, other than any points credited.[/QUOT

My understanding was that if you prepaid for 2013 before 1/7/12 you get the full rebate

I think I prepaid 13 months worth in June which was the maximum my fund would allow

 

[amaroo]

I think this is in relation to people who actually paid during 12/13 FY & haven't advised their income to the fund. The onus is for the insured to advise the insurer.

AFAIK pre-paying in the FY 11/12 is still good for full rebate.

There was a story on it in the Oz last week....apparently there are over 1.2m voters who fall into this little tax trap. Seems there will be a few upset voters come tax time - might be a good indicator for the timing of the next election

See ATO ruling here http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?menuid=0&doc=/content/00233246.htm&page=19&H19

 

[oz_mark]

I think this is in relation to people who actually paid during 12/13 FY & haven't advised their income to the fund. The onus is for the insured to advise the insurer.

This was my understanding as well. There are a large number of people that have lost the rebate, but are still paying month to month as though they are entitled to it.

 

[burmans]

This was my understanding as well. There are a large number of people that have lost the rebate, but are still paying month to month as though they are entitled to it.

Not sure I really understand this, the ATO site says

[h=2]Claiming the private health insurance tax offset for 2011-12[/h]You can claim a private health insurance tax offset on your 2011-12 tax return for premiums that provide insurance cover for a future income year, if both of the following apply:

• you paid the premiums in the 2011-12 income year (that is, before 30 June 2012)
• you have not already claimed the private health insurance rebate as a premium reduction, or as a claim from a Department of Human Services centre.

Premium payments you made in 2011-12 may be for a policy that provides insurance cover for a period that includes a future income year.

No mention about advising your health fund there? I prepaid for 18 months and have not been contacted by either the health fund or ATO. Cove, who contacted you about this?

 

[cove]

Just call your health insurer and let them know your taxable income. This will avoid any issue. I think they said over $84,000 has the rebate start to reduce for a single taxpayer.
I saw it in the Financial Review a few weeks ago.
No huge problem really ....just a bit more chiseling by someone in the Government.