O!ePay AAVS Loophole with PrimeCredit's EarnMore CC + More Ideas Wanted

[LoganH]

I can't tell if the maximum amount of spending is 100k or 200k that will still earn 2%, but this website (https://hkcashrebate.com/pc-earnmore/) says it's 200k, but I've seen other sites say 100k and PrimeCredit's terms are in Chinese https://www.primecredit.com/credit-card/earnmore/#acf-1
Google Translate just says 2,00HKD, but maybe that is 2,000HKD extra 1% on a base 1% reward. Please reply if you can 100% tell the spending limit (100k or 200k annually) that will earn 2% cashback. Also does the 200k spending limit that gets 2% cashback reset on January 1st each year?

[LoganH]

Thanks @hike for a detailed reply.

I guess valuechampion's site is the only one that said 100,000HKD spending max, which now I realize is definitely incorrect. PrimeCredit's EarnMore card has a basic unlimited 1% cashback and a bonus 1% on the first 200,000HKD annual spending.

I'm not actually spending money as I'm simply moving my money around via physical octopus cards with AAVS, and at least 6,000HKD can be moved for free per month to my bank account (again just moving money around to earn 120HKD cashback per month). The only part I'm 'spending' on is to pay my IRD tax bill that I haven't figured out any other way to earn 2% on paying.

I'm fairly sure I've claimed all deductions I legally can to reduce my HK taxes, but luckily my salary is nice for me as a native English teacher on the Education Bureau's NET scheme (remuneration is public information). I don't have a business, and as a US citizen any self-employment income is legally subject to some ridiculous US taxes. I've deducted the standard 18k for my MPF contributions, 60k for my TVC contributions, 120k child deduction, two 50k parent deductions (my wife's parents), 50k mortgage interest deduction (I should have convinced my wife to just put our property and mortgage solely in my name, but oh well), and a bit for a small charity donation to WWF that makes my wife happy.

If you have other ideas to further reduce my HK taxes I'm open to suggestions. Previously I related back my gratuity as it lowered my total HK taxes, and I claimed self-education expenses when I had them. I also always elect for a joint assessment (I love how the IRD will only do a joint assessment if it lowers your overall tax liability), but it has only reduce my total tax bill (my wife's plus mine) once or twice.

[LoganH]

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I've read through this before, but just because you mentioned expenses I read through https://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/pdf/dipn09.pdf once again. It explicitly says I can't claim my travel expenses between my home and my work. I'm not creative enough to figure out any expenses I could legally deduct.

[LoganH]

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My school made me go to my school almost every school day in the 20/21 school year to use Zoom (when face to face lessons were suspended) in individual classrooms.

I only got to work from home a bit from February 2020 to mid May 2020, and I already had everything I needed to try to do my job. I don't know the financial cost of the mental expense of my annoyance

My current phone doesn't have NFC and I need physical access to my wife's octopus card, so to transfer money into my Octopus wallet I wait until I'm certain the octopus cards don't need to be further used that day and I use an old phone with NFC to play the moving money game. My 20/21 regular and 21/22 provisional tax demand are the largest I've ever received (I'm happy to have a good job.), and so this month I can transfer in the maximum 20,000HKD from two octopus cards into my Octopus wallet by making two 10,000HKD IRD payments within the Octopus app.

[ycchai]

There is actually a chinese website that is dedicated to maximizing card rebates, i think its hk cards or mr card or something like that

Basically you swipe your cards into your E wallet and deposit the money back into your bank account to collect free miles/rebate. At one point I was doing close to 50k a month of miles. Now they slashed the limit to 1k and it has become so painful to do this. Octopus is one way of doing it because of the inbuilt FPS function.

[ycchai]

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Happened to me once. The refund cheque arrived before credit card payment was due. When it became due I postponed it another month by using my Hang Seng credit card

[LoganH]

Original Post Deleted

Great question. Feel free to PM me if you are really curious.

[LoganH]

There were updates posted in the 2022 credit card thread, but that's a massive thread. I've sometimes moved money into my Octopus Wallet in 2022, and it earned 1% cashback instead of the 2% I earned in 2021. However, Octopus updated their app and now it requires me to link my Octopus card in another way before I can transfer money from my Octopus card to my Octopus Wallet. The problem is I can't link it. I even tried linking it to my wife's Octopus app, but that also wouldn't work.

It said the HKID, AAVS, and Octopus Wallet information don't match. My Octopus app is in my name, but the AAVS is through my wife's PrimeCredit CC. I can't link my octopus card to my wife's Octopus app as then the HKID doesn't match. Well they pretty much closed the loophole for me. Maybe my wife's octopus card can be linked to her octopus app, but it limits the game even more.

[freeier]

Ya had the same problems two days back but the linking was relatively easy.. just click to link and scan the card..

I did try the tax overpayment once .... by a few hundred dollars (last octopus card payment)... IRD mailed me and asked for proof that it was paid by me..etc.etc... from that context then overpayment is probably frowned at...

[ycchai]

I don't get this, I have 6 octopus physical card linked in my app. Occasionally I use those 6 card on my wife octopus app when I exceed the monthly limit of 10k

Also I used SCB simply cash for 1.5%