ATO (tax office) payments by credit card

[deka2]

Received points today for my NAB Qantas Rewards Premium Card (Platinum). Mixture of spend, but a bit over 10K to the ATO
More due on next months cycle.

 

[Bofter]

My NAB Velocity Premium Amex paid full points for an ATO payment in mid Feb. My statement today has confirmed this, which is good as I have some further ATO bills coming up.

 

[bbqwer]

Received points today for my NAB Qantas Rewards Premium Card (Platinum). Mixture of spend, but a bit over 10K to the ATO
More due on next months cycle.

Hi , was this card 1.5 points per $1 amex ?

 

[deka2]

Hi , was this card 1.5 points per $1 amex ?

Yes it was.

 

[Bofter]

Spoke too soon, should have looked at the nasty black box on the statement.

Changes to your Velocity Terms and Conditions
We're making some changes to the Velocity NAB Account: Velocity Points Terms and Conditions which will be effective from 1 May 2015:
- References to the cap on Velocity Points will change from $100,000 spend per statement period to $20,000 spend per statement period. Any bonus you may be eligible to earn will continue to be excluded from the cap.
- The description of net purchases will exclude when you make a payment to the Australian Taxation Office. This means you won't earn any Velocity Points on this transaction.

I think this card will be cancelled well before my annual fee falls due.

 

[kevrosmith]

Spoke too soon, should have looked at the nasty black box on the statement.

Changes to your Velocity Terms and Conditions
We're making some changes to the Velocity NAB Account: Velocity Points Terms and Conditions which will be effective from 1 May 2015:
- References to the cap on Velocity Points will change from $100,000 spend per statement period to $20,000 spend per statement period. Any bonus you may be eligible to earn will continue to be excluded from the cap.
- The description of net purchases will exclude when you make a payment to the Australian Taxation Office. This means you won't earn any Velocity Points on this transaction.

I think this card will be cancelled well before my annual fee falls due.

Oh dear... not good news at all.

 

[andye]

I imagine there will be a fair few early payments on NAB velocity before 1 May 2015. It does imply that you should get points for payments before then

 

[Eggsbenedict]

Spoke too soon, should have looked at the nasty black box on the statement.

Changes to your Velocity Terms and Conditions
We're making some changes to the Velocity NAB Account: Velocity Points Terms and Conditions which will be effective from 1 May 2015:
- References to the cap on Velocity Points will change from $100,000 spend per statement period to $20,000 spend per statement period. Any bonus you may be eligible to earn will continue to be excluded from the cap.
- The description of net purchases will exclude when you make a payment to the Australian Taxation Office. This means you won't earn any Velocity Points on this transaction.

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I'm gonna get you, too
Another one bites the dust​

Glad I just received my ANZ Black!

BWT I did 3 ATO Payments this statement period on the NAB Velocity Platinum the most recent being on the 1st March (Statement Period ends on the 2nd) All have come though with points paid. I guess it's still good till May

 

[Eggsbenedict]

So Amex still get their commission from the Optus pay portal, the drastic drop and what looks likely the ultimate end to CC's paying points on ATO spend will mean a significant drop in the use of AMEX for ATO which will reduce Amex's income and transaction volume you would think they would pick up on this and offer an AMEX direct card that provides decent ATO points.

 

[Colrad]

So Amex still get their commission from the Optus pay portal, the drastic drop and what looks likely the ultimate end to CC's paying points on ATO spend will mean a significant drop in the use of AMEX for ATO which will reduce Amex's income and transaction volume you would think they would pick up on this and offer an AMEX direct card that provides decent ATO points.

Common sense would suggest so...but common sense and Amex have always been something of an oxymoron in my experience.

 

[overtime2000]

anyone have any experience with the HSBC platinum visa card (Non qantas one) in paying ATO?
Or, what about the HSBC premier world master card?

Whether any of these pay HSBC reward points (not QFF)?

Currently, both are free of annual fee for life.

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

anyone have any experience with the HSBC platinum visa card (Non qantas one) in paying ATO?
Or, what about the HSBC premier world master card?

Whether any of these pay HSBC reward points (not QFF)?

Currently, both are free of annual fee for life.

I read the PDS not that long ago and seem to recall an exclusion on government charges but nothing ATO specific, so should be OK. There are points caps however.

Citi now has ATO specific clauses in their rewards T&Cs.

Also Premier is not free (or available) unless you qualify as a Premier customer and pay their monthly fee. This isn't hard to do but the fee is about $420 per annum ($35 per month).

 

[edman]

So NAB blurb relates specifically to Velocity. I presume Qantas will follow. $20k points cap is cough anyway so will need to find an alternative. I'd go to ANZ Black but problem is that it's probably not that far away from going down the same path.

 

[Colrad]

So NAB blurb relates specifically to Velocity. I presume Qantas will follow. $20k points cap is cough anyway so will need to find an alternative. I'd go to ANZ Black but problem is that it's probably not that far away from going down the same path.

You've got to assume so...not that the banks collude of course:evil:...that would be anti-competitive.

 

[hossein_au]

I have no horses in this race so to speak, but I really do not get why bank would change their T&C to cut down earn rate or exclude certain payment. Let's look at it from a higher level:
1) banks purchase points from FF programs
2) banks use FF points as incentives for their customers to use their CCs
3) merchants pay CC fees to banks, and that is how banks make their money.

A general observation might be that some merchants limit certain types of payments. I understand that, because they have to wear merchant fees.

In the case of ATO payments however, ATO passes on the merchant fees, so ATO is happy because they have increased their revenue channels without incurring any extra cost. Banks also ought to be happy, because they collect revenue that they would not have had otherwise. And customers are happy despite the fact that they need to pay that little extra money (merchant fees).

You see where I'm going with this? I think it defies logic for the banks to do what they have been slowing doing (cutting earn rate or excluding ATO payments altogether). I understand they would have loved to just collect merchant fees and not having to dish out FF points, but if they stop awarding FF points, their revenue stream will dry up... Am I missing something? I just don't get it...

 

[kevrosmith]

I have no horses in this race so to speak, but I really do not get why bank would change their T&C to cut down earn rate or exclude certain payment. Let's look at it from a higher level:
1) banks purchase points from FF programs
2) banks use FF points as incentives for their customers to use their CCs
3) merchants pay CC fees to banks, and that is how banks make their money.

A general observation might be that some merchants limit certain types of payments. I understand that, because they have to wear merchant fees.

In the case of ATO payments however, ATO passes on the merchant fees, so ATO is happy because they have increased their revenue channels without incurring any extra cost. Banks also ought to be happy, because they collect revenue that they would not have had otherwise. And customers are happy despite the fact that they need to pay that little extra money (merchant fees).

You see where I'm going with this? I think it defies logic for the banks to do what they have been slowing doing (cutting earn rate or excluding ATO payments altogether). I understand they would have loved to just collect merchant fees and not having to dish out FF points, but if they stop awarding FF points, their revenue stream will dry up... Am I missing something? I just don't get it...

My guess on this is that the Business Case for justifying the cost of purchasing FF points did not factor into the volume being put through in general, and when they analyse the data, the ATO stands out as a high volume merchant compared with the number of transactions (Average Transaction Value). They obviously deem it not to be in their business' best interest and therefore are potentially looking at ways to reduce their costs.

 

[JohnM]

I have no horses in this race so to speak, but I really do not get why bank would change their T&C to cut down earn rate or exclude certain payment. Let's look at it from a higher level:
1) banks purchase points from FF programs
2) banks use FF points as incentives for their customers to use their CCs
3) merchants pay CC fees to banks, and that is how banks make their money.

A general observation might be that some merchants limit certain types of payments. I understand that, because they have to wear merchant fees.

In the case of ATO payments however, ATO passes on the merchant fees, so ATO is happy because they have increased their revenue channels without incurring any extra cost. Banks also ought to be happy, because they collect revenue that they would not have had otherwise. And customers are happy despite the fact that they need to pay that little extra money (merchant fees).

You see where I'm going with this? I think it defies logic for the banks to do what they have been slowing doing (cutting earn rate or excluding ATO payments altogether). I understand they would have loved to just collect merchant fees and not having to dish out FF points, but if they stop awarding FF points, their revenue stream will dry up... Am I missing something? I just don't get it...

I agree, I don't get it either - but there must some underlying issue with huge points transfers that somehow upset revenue streams or points-purchase arrangements. The only person I know who may be able to throw some light on this conundrum is - you guessed it - cove. But is he prepared to talk about it?

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

I have no horses in this race so to speak, but I really do not get why bank would change their T&C to cut down earn rate or exclude certain payment. Let's look at it from a higher level:
1) banks purchase points from FF programs
2) banks use FF points as incentives for their customers to use their CCs
3) merchants pay CC fees to banks, and that is how banks make their money.

A general observation might be that some merchants limit certain types of payments. I understand that, because they have to wear merchant fees.

In the case of ATO payments however, ATO passes on the merchant fees, so ATO is happy because they have increased their revenue channels without incurring any extra cost. Banks also ought to be happy, because they collect revenue that they would not have had otherwise. And customers are happy despite the fact that they need to pay that little extra money (merchant fees).

You see where I'm going with this? I think it defies logic for the banks to do what they have been slowing doing (cutting earn rate or excluding ATO payments altogether). I understand they would have loved to just collect merchant fees and not having to dish out FF points, but if they stop awarding FF points, their revenue stream will dry up... Am I missing something? I just don't get it...

I would imagine the ATO operates the credit card facility purely on a cost recovery basis. Although one wonders why their merchant rates are so high. The majority of cards used for ATO would be premium cards and would typically have a higher merchant cost than normal.

The card payment fee would go directly to the service provider (Optus SmartPay and the RBA), and the ATO wouldn't see any incremental revenue over and above your tax liability.

It is clear that QF and others have increased the cost of points to financial institutions, so they don't have the margins they had previously.

Too many of us don't pay interest on the cards so the banks make very little from us. Add this to the abuse of these services by some who overpay the ATO in 6 figure sums, they've caught wise.

Your point is well made though, that some cardholders will move their business elsewhere, but I'm not sure the banks care. They want Johnny poorly organised to pay 21% interest.

Now we need to find alternative solutions...

 

[Isochronous]

Seems to be a bit of debate around whether NAB is still paying 1.5 QF points per dollar on Amex spend with ATO. First time I have used this card for ATO, having previously used the (now 50% reduced earn rate) Westpac Earth Black, so I have nothing to go by one way or the other.:?:

Still confused as to whether my NAB Plat QFF is going to yield me 1.5 per $ on next payment or not!

 

[cove]

This month and next that NAB Amex should get you up to 100,000 points cap at 1.5 points per dollar is how I believe it will work.