Guide

A guide to unlocking more points from your Amex Card on ATO Payments — Direct vs pay.com.au

Your ATO payments could be helping you earn more Amex Rewards – but exactly how many?

Written byFabian Andreou

PublishedAugust 12, 2025

Last updatedAugust 18, 2025

Pay.com.au business payments platform dashboard interface

Are you a business owner making frequent government payments, like BAS, PAYG, payroll tax, superannuation or land tax? If so, you might have noticed that you do not earn your full credit card rewards for these transactions.

That’s because credit card merchants often limit points on direct payments to government bodies, such as the ATO or State Revenue Offices.

This is where pay.com.au comes in! We help you get around these limits, so you can earn more rewards points and get extra value from those necessary government payments.

In this guide, we’ll compare 3 popular American Express Business Credit Cards, where you’ll be able to see there’s only one logical way to pay your BAS, PAYG or other government payments.

American Express Platinum Credit Card Comparison

On this one government payment, you could earn 25,000 more Amex Points just by using pay.com.au. While you will pay $97 more in net fees through pay.com.au vs paying directly through to the ATO, you will gain an additional $340 in total net value (when converting to Frequent Flyer points).

$20,000 payment – American Express Platinum	ATO	pay.com.au
Transaction fee (% Rate ex GST)	1.45%	2.10%
Gross Processing fee	$290	$420
Net Processing fee	$218	$315
Cards point earn rate (pts/$)	1	2.25
AMEX Points	20,000	45,000
Converted to FF Points*	10,000	22,500
Frequent Flyer Points Value	$350	$788
Net value for FF conversion	$133	$473

American Express Qantas Business Rewards Credit Card Comparison

On this one government payment, you could earn 15,000 more Qantas Points just by using pay.com.au. While you will pay $97 more in net fees through pay.com.au vs paying directly through to the ATO, you will gain an additional $427 in total net value (when converting to Frequent Flyer points).

$20,000 payment – American Express Qantas Business Rewards	ATO	pay.com.au
Transaction fee (% Rate ex GST)	1.45%	2.10%
Gross Processing fee	$290	$420
Net Processing fee	$218	$315
Cards point earn rate (pts/$)	0.5	1.25
Qantas Points	10,000	25,000
Estimated FF Points Value*	$350	$875
Net value for FF conversion*	$133	$560

American Express Velocity Business Rewards Credit Card Comparison

On this one government payment, you could earn 15,000 more Velocity Points just by using pay.com.au. While you will pay $97 more in net fees through pay.com.au vs paying directly through to the ATO, you will gain an additional $427 in total net value (when converting to Frequent Flyer points).

$20,000 payment – American Express Velocity Business	ATO	pay.com.au
Transaction fee (% Rate ex GST)	1.45%	2.10%
Gross Processing fee	$290	$420
Net Processing fee	$218	$315
Cards point earn rate (pts/$)	0.5	1
Velocity Points	10,000	20,000
Estimated FF Points Value*	$350	$875
Net value for FF conversion*	$133	$560

At first glance, paying the ATO directly might seem cheaper, but when you factor in the points you’d otherwise miss out on, the real value shines through. With pay.com.au, the fees are quickly outsized by the rewards earned – whether that’s business class flights, luxury hotels, or simply maximising your credit card benefits.

So, if your goal is to make every dollar of tax payments work harder for you, the smarter play is clear: pay through pay.com.au and unlock your full points potential.

Want to see exactly how much you could be earning? Check out our guide on earning more points on government payments.

Disclaimers:

*Converted to FF points are excluding transfers to Singapore Airlines (3:1) and Emirates (3:1)

**Frequent Flyer Points Value and the Net value for Frequent Flyer conversions are based off an estimated 3.5c per point valuation