Lots of business owners ask the same question at BAS or tax time: “Should I pay the ATO with my American Express® Qantas Business Rewards Card to earn points?” It can feel like a win—until you factor in the ATO’s card fee and the card’s reduced earn rate for government payments.
Here’s a simple way to assess whether it’s worth it.
Step 1: Understand the earn rate on ATO payments
The American Express® Qantas Business Rewards Card earns a headline rate on “everyday spend”, but government merchants (including the Australian Taxation Office) earn at a reduced rate of 0.5 Qantas Points per $1.
So if you’re paying GST, PAYG, income tax, or super-related liabilities directly to the ATO, you should assume you’re earning points at the government rate, not the headline rate.
Step 2: Factor in the ATO’s card payment fee
The ATO charges a card payment fee based on the card type, and it’s structured as a percentage of the payment amount.
Independent summaries commonly cite American Express at 1.45%, and lower rates for Visa/Mastercard credit cards.
Worked example: $10,000 ATO payment
Let’s run your scenario.
ATO payment: $10,000
Amex fee (1.45%): $10,000 × 1.45% = $145
Points earned (ATO/government at 0.5 pts/$1): $10,000 × 0.5 = 5,000 Qantas Points
Now the key metric:
Cost per point: $145 ÷ 5,000 = 2.9 cents per point
Is that good value?
In plain terms, paying the ATO this way means you’re effectively buying Qantas Points for 2.9c each.
That’s a high “buy price”. To come out ahead, you’d need to consistently redeem Qantas Points for more than 2.9c per point, which is difficult for many redemptions (and usually only achievable in specific, high-value flight redemptions—if at all).
What many businesses do instead
If your goal is simply to pay the ATO efficiently and keep costs down:
Use debit or bank transfer/BPAY where possible (to avoid card fees). The ATO indicates no card payment fee applies to debit card payments.
If you must pay by credit card, note that Visa/Mastercard fees are commonly lower than Amex when paying the ATO directly.
Some businesses also explore payment platforms, but those come with their own fee structures and should be assessed carefully.
Our take
For most clients, paying the ATO directly with this Amex card is usually not worthwhile purely for points, because the reduced earn rate (0.5 pts/$1) combined with the Amex fee pushes the “cost per point” too high.