Hello peeps, when paying taxes does the ATO charge credit card fees?
What is the best way to use credit and gain credit card points - what cards ie. Mastercard/Visa/Amex ?
Any hacks?
Many thanks.
OzBargain Way to Paying the ATO
Mrfrog on 30/01/2025 - 13:19
Last edited 30/01/2025 - 13:31 by 2 other users
Last edited 30/01/2025 - 13:31 by 2 other users
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I'm surprised they don't consider a Mastercard gift card purchase as a cash advance
iTunes gift cards
They actually called me a few weeks back asking me to pay my outstanding tax bill using iTunes gift cards.
Disability is tax free
They probably just gave you an exemption…
They are such nice young men
Me too except I opted to be arrested and jailed. Still waiting for them to come and arrest me.
The ATO currently charges the following payment fees for the following payment methods when paying through the ATO portal on myGov or Government EasyPay:
Card Type Fee American Express 1.45% Mastercard – International 1.99% Mastercard – Domestic Debit 0% Mastercard – Domestic Credit 0.72% Visa – International 1.99% Visa – Domestic Debit 0% Visa – Domestic Credit 0.80% The OzBargain way is to use prepaid gift cards (e.g. Coles Mastercard gift cards, Vanilla Mastercard gift cards, Vanilla Visa gift cards), because those are classified by the ATO as "Domestic Debit" and therefore attract no surcharge. I used a Coles Mastercard gift card to make a payment on the ATO website last night and was charged no surcharge. Have a look at the linked product tags to see past and current sales, as well as get notified for the next sale.
A word of warning though: prepaid gift cards owned/operated by Blackhawk Network (e.g. Activ Visa gift cards) block transactions at the ATO, so do not waste your time with those.
Thanks, this is really useful.
Do people stockpile discounted gift cards for this, or are they readily available at a discount all year round somewhere?
I have a CBA Smart Awards credit card and tried to get points on my ATO payment. I would have made a slight profit on the points plus keeping money in my mortgage longer.
Nope, didn't work. I was charged the surcharge but didn't get any points. Only CBA business cards earn points on ATO payments.
there is probably something in the pds that says no points awarded on payments to government agencies
Does it still work to BPay using ZIP, copping the .25% fee and then paying it off with your CC ?
I paid for a whole uni degree with that method and it worked a treat!I did this method for my 2024 Land Tax bill. Hoping it still works for my whopping invoice for 2025, however, I believe others said in other posts that it doesn't work. I'll try soon.
As an aside, my zip limit was $1000 at first, but after a few payments was increased to $1,500. Now they're offering Zip Plus with $8,000 limit. The higher limit would definitely make it easier to pay (with less transactions).
Don’t get Zip Plus. You can’t pay off with CC
Cheers
OzBargain Way to Paying the ATO
send a cheque that bounces
Reading the revenue.nsw.gov.au site now and it says 0% fees for credit card. Am i reading this properly? I thought that was limited to debit cards only. Can someone confirm
https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/help-centre/make-a-payment
Go to 'Pay Now', 'Tax and Levies'Please note that a card payment fee of 0% applies to final credit card payments.
Yes, NSW was surcharging illegally so they have removed the fee (for now)
Go to a foregin hospital take a picture of you in a hospital bed with the word in a coma. send it to ATO for compassion reason.
So then who's been communicating to the ATO?
Spooky
Best option is if you can buy discounted giftcards
Second best option is use zippay. No fees to bpay and you earn credit card points
Also tried using CC, Qantas Platinum
Thought I'd score $8000 points on my BASNada came through
Is it too ridiculous to get $10000 - $14000 of store prepaid gift cards ?
Coles Mastercard gift card, purchase them with Amex Plat Edge and you get 3 pts per dollar fee free.