Points strategy · Offers checked 24 October 2026

Paying Tax or BAS for Airline Points in Australia: 4 Offers Compared

A signup bonus can turn a tax bill into some of the cheapest airline points around. Here’s how much to route through each offer, and when to just pay the ATO directly.

0.44cper point, best case (pay.com.au NAB40)

$110fee for about 25,000 airline points

16 NovVABF50 signups close

• Fees recalculated from published pricing
• Offer terms checked 24 Oct 2026
• Direct links, no affiliates

The short answer

If you have an ABN and your next bill is due after mid-November, one signup bonus is worth taking. Route only as much as the bonus needs, then pay the rest directly.

Best value · NAB40

25,000 pts for $110

Route $10,000 through pay.com.au with NAB40. That’s 0.44c a point, in Qantas or Velocity.

Want more · add B2Bpay

+20,000 for $205.70

Put a second $10,000 through B2Bpay Points: 1.03c a point, versus 2.20c for 5,000 more through NAB40.

BAS due 28 October? Don’t open a new account for it. Pay directly and keep NAB40 for a later bill. It runs until October 2027.

After the bonus, ongoing earn costs about 2–6.5c per point, which is more than most redemptions are worth.

Key dates

1. 28 OctSept-quarter BAS due if you lodge it yourself
2. 16 NovVABF50 signups close, 8:59pm Perth (11:59pm AEDT)
3. 25 NovSept-quarter BAS due via a tax or BAS agent
4. 30 NovB2Bpay points must be converted to Velocity
5. 1 Oct 2027NAB40 closes (11:59pm AEST)

Each offer also has its own 30-day payment window from signup. Sniip’s BONUS20K has no fixed end date. An offer’s window never changes your ATO due date.

• Compare offers
• Your next BAS
• Combining offers
• What a point is worth
• Offer details
• Checklist
• FAQ

Compare the four offers

Each offer needs a different amount to qualify. The comparison uses an illustrative $20,000 business bill and routes only the minimum through each provider. Pay any remainder directly by bank BPAY.

Green marks the strongest result on that row. Fees include GST; points include the signup bonus.

$20,000 bill	Best value pay.com.au NAB40Bank-funded Core	Sniip BONUS20KEligible debit card	pay.com.au VABF50Bank-funded Core	B2Bpay PointsBank Account Earn Max
Pay through the provider	Lowest spend$10,000Pay the other $10,000 directly	$20,000The full bill	$20,000The full bill	Lowest spend$10,000Pay the other $10,000 directly
Total fee	Lowest fee$1101% + GST	$1300.65% incl. GST	$2201% + GST	$205.701.87% + GST
Airline points	25,0005,000 base + 20,000 bonus · Qantas or Velocity0.44c per point	22,0002,000 base + 20,000 bonus · Velocity0.59c per point	Most points30,00010,000 base + 20,000 bonus · Velocity0.73c per point	20,00010,000 base + 10,000 bonus · Velocity1.03c per point
Deadline	Pay within 30 days of verification. Offer ends 1 Oct 2027.	Pay within 30 days of registration. No fixed end date.	Join by 16 Nov 2026, then pay within 30 days.	Join, earn and convert by 30 Nov 2026.
Who qualifies	New business accounts, marketed to NAB customers. No existing, former or linked pay.com.au accounts.	New customers with an ABN and linked Business Flyer. Enter BONUS20K before paying. Debit card only.	New pay.com.au customers with linked Business Flyer. Can’t combine with NAB40.	New Points customers with linked Business Flyer. Conversion must finish in the offer period.

• pay.com.au NAB40Best value

  Pay

  $10,000

  Fee

  $110

  Points

  25,000

  0.44c per point. Qantas or Velocity. Ends 1 Oct 2027. New business accounts only.

• Sniip BONUS20KDebit card

  Pay

  $20,000

  Fee

  $130

  Points

  22,000

  0.59c per point. Velocity. Enter the code before paying. Check your card’s daily limit.

• pay.com.au VABF50Bank Core

  Pay

  $20,000

  Fee

  $220

  Points

  30,000

  0.73c per point. Velocity. Join by 16 Nov 2026. Can’t combine with NAB40.

• B2Bpay PointsEarn Max

  Pay

  $10,000

  Fee

  $205.70

  Points

  20,000

  1.03c per point. Velocity. Convert at least 10,000 points by 30 Nov 2026.

Paying directly instead: the $20,000 by bank BPAY earns no points and costs nothing in provider fees, assuming your bank charges no fee.

NAB40 is the cheapest way to a bonus if you qualify. A further $10,000 through it costs another $110 for only 5,000 more points, so check the combinations before putting the whole bill through.

About these numbers. Rates and offers checked 24 October 2026. These are business offers: you need an ABN and, for the Velocity bonuses, a linked Virgin Australia Business Flyer account, so the points land in a business account. Fees are gross at each provider’s published bank or debit rate (pay.com.au, Sniip, B2Bpay), points are counted on the bill only, and bonuses are assumed to be awarded. No card rewards, points on fees, deductions, GST credits or subscriptions are included. Provider links are direct, not affiliate links. This is general information, not tax or financial advice.

Timing it with your September-quarter BAS

The July–September quarterly BAS is due on 28 October 2026 if you lodge it yourself, or 25 November 2026 if a registered tax or BAS agent lodges it for you. Online self-lodgers may get extra time, so check the due date shown in Online services for business.

• Due 28 October: too tight for a first-time account. Signup, verification, provider remittance and up to four business days of ATO processing can easily run past the due date. Pay directly and keep NAB40 for a later bill, such as the December-quarter BAS due 28 February 2027.
• Due 25 November (via an agent): this is where the time-limited offers line up. Join VABF50 by 16 November, or pay through B2Bpay early enough to convert your points by 30 November. Aim to submit the payment about a week before the due date.
• Monthly lodgers: the October BAS is due 21 November, which also falls inside both windows.

Missing the due date isn’t worth any number of points. The ATO charges interest on late amounts, and since 1 July 2025 that interest is no longer tax deductible.

Why putting the whole bill through can be worse

The signup bonus does almost all the work. Once it’s earned, every extra dollar you route through the same provider buys points at the ordinary rate, which is much worse. Here’s NAB40 on bank-funded Core, using pay.com.au’s 2:1 conversion to Qantas or Velocity.

The whole-bill average ($220 for 30,000 points) still looks fine, which is why it’s easy to miss that the second half of the bill is poor value on its own.

Splitting is normally straightforward: the ATO accepts more than one payment against the same payment reference number (PRN). Use the same PRN for both, make sure the amounts add up to what you owe, and record the provider fee separately so it isn’t mistaken for part of the tax payment.

Combining two providers on one bill

NAB40 and VABF50 are both pay.com.au offers, so you can only use one. But pay.com.au, Sniip and B2Bpay are separate providers with separate bonuses. Instead of routing more money through a provider with nothing left to give, use a second provider to reach a second bonus.

Ways to pay the illustrative $20,000 bill. Fees include GST.

How you split it	Fee	Points	Avg cost
NAB40 $10k + direct $10k	$110	25,000	0.44c
NAB40 $10k + B2Bpay $10k Most points	$315.70	45,000	0.70c
NAB40 for the full $20k	$220	30,000	0.73c
VABF50 for the full $20k	$220	30,000	0.73c
Sniip for the full $20k	$130	22,000	0.59c

The NAB40 + B2Bpay split costs more in total, but its extra 20,000 Velocity points cost 1.03c each, against 2.20c for the extra 5,000 you’d get by putting the second $10,000 through NAB40. If a Velocity point is worth more than about 1c to you, the split comes out ahead. Convert the NAB40 PayRewards to Velocity and all 45,000 points end up in one program.

Each provider’s terms still apply on their own, and two new accounts means two lots of verification, so only combine offers when there’s plenty of time before the due date.

Is a point worth what you pay for it?

Work out what a point is worth to you before paying any fee. Take a cash fare you would genuinely buy, subtract the taxes and charges on the reward booking, then divide by the points needed. Example: a $300 flight that costs 20,000 points plus $60 in charges saves you $240, so each point is worth $240 ÷ 20,000 = 1.20c.

What each route costs per point

Bars past the dashed line cost more than the 1.20c example value above.

With a signup bonus

• NAB40 · first $10,0000.44c
• Sniip · $20,000 on debit0.59c
• VABF50 · $20,0000.73c
• B2Bpay · $10,0001.03c

After the bonus

• B2Bpay Earn Max2.06c
• pay.com.au Core (incl. NAB40’s 2nd $10k)2.20c
• Sniip debit6.50c

Seat availability, expiry and booking restrictions all reduce what points are worth in practice, and points you never use are worth nothing. Points in a business loyalty account also aren’t automatically usable for a personal trip, so check who can book with them and any transfer rules before counting on them.

The offers in detail

What about paying with a credit card?

Every example above uses bank funds or a debit card, so none rely on credit card rewards. A payment platform saying you can earn card points doesn’t override your card issuer’s rules. For example, NAB’s personal Qantas rewards terms (clause 7.1) exclude ATO and BPAY transactions, and anything NAB reasonably decides is wholly or partly for a business purpose. Routing a business BAS payment through a different merchant doesn’t make it eligible.

Whether a payment counts towards a card’s signup spend target is a separate question again. Check your card’s terms, ask the issuer if unsure, and add card fees, payment fees and any interest before comparing. Carrying a balance to earn points wipes out the saving fast.

Before you pay: a checklist

1. Confirm eligibility before joining. Check prior accounts, linked businesses, the ABN requirement, the right offer code and your Business Flyer link. Each provider’s terms stand alone.
2. Save the quote. Note the payment amount, rewards package, total fee including GST, deadline and expected points. Have cash for the tax and the fee, and check bank and debit card limits.
3. Use the right PRN. Take the payment reference number from the current payment instructions for the account you’re paying; your ABN or TFN is not a substitute. See the ATO’s BPAY instructions.
4. Allow for two processing steps. The provider remits the money, then the ATO processes it, and the ATO allows up to four business days for BPAY payments to appear. An in-app receipt doesn’t mean your tax account has been credited.
5. Reconcile afterwards. Keep the provider receipt, check your ATO balance and track split-payment totals. Check separately that the bonus arrived and any conversion went through.
6. Decide on gross fees. Don’t assume the fee is deductible or attracts a GST credit; ask a registered tax agent. Refunds or reversals can cost you the bonus.

So, is it worth it?

Route only as much as each bonus needs, and recalculate before using the same service for your next BAS.

Frequently asked questions