Isla HendersonBunnings has overhauled its trade loyalty scheme, launching PowerPass Pro Rewards in July 2026 — the biggest change to PowerPass since the program began in 2011. For the hundreds of thousands of tradies and small businesses that shop there weekly, the new perks land straight on the bottom line. And that is exactly why an accountant would tell you to slow down before you start chasing tiers.
The revamped program, reported by SmartCompany and the NZ Herald, rewards trade and business customers as their annual spend grows. Members earn $100 in Pro Rewards Dollars once they spend $2,000, then an extra $50 in store credit for every $1,000 spent after that. Higher spenders unlock fuel discounts through a Shell Card Lite and can collect Qantas Points via Qantas Business Rewards. Bunnings is marking the launch with a "PowerPass Pro Challenge" at its Alexandria store in Sydney on Saturday 25 July, with three fuel vouchers worth $10,000 each and a share of 900,000 Qantas Points up for grabs.
Six tiers, one catch: it is still business money
PowerPass Pro runs across six membership levels — Member, Essential, Plus, Elite, Ultimate and Black — with benefits climbing as annual spend rises. Partner offers from Commonwealth Bank, MYOB, Zeller, Ultra Tune, Beaumont Tiles and others round out the package.
The perks are real, but the framing matters. Every dollar of Pro Rewards credit and every litre of discounted fuel is being generated by business spending, not personal shopping. That single fact changes how the rewards should be treated at tax time. A discount, a rebate and a reward are not the same thing to the Australian Taxation Office, and getting the category wrong is where sole traders and small companies quietly overpay or under-report.
What an accountant checks first
The core question a bookkeeper or accountant asks is simple: does the reward reduce an expense, or does it count as income?
When Bunnings gives you store credit tied to how much your business has spent, that credit generally reduces the net cost of your purchases. If you claimed the full pre-credit amount as a deductible expense and then spent the credit on more stock without recording it, your books can drift out of line. The safest approach is to record what the business actually paid, net of any credit applied, and to keep the receipts that show it. General guidance on how business income and deductible expenses work is published by the Australian Government at business.gov.au.
Fuel discounts are treated in a similar spirit. A discount at the pump lowers your deductible fuel cost rather than creating separate income — but if you claim fuel tax credits, the amount you claim needs to reflect what you paid, not the pre-discount price. That reconciliation is easy to miss when the discount is applied automatically through a Shell Card.
Qantas Points: the grey area
Qantas Points earned through a business rewards program are the part most tradies get wrong. The long-standing position is that flight rewards a person earns from a consumer loyalty scheme are usually not taxed. But points earned specifically because a business spent money, and points that are effectively converted into something with a cash value, sit in a more complicated space.
This is not a call to make from a forum thread. Whether points tied to business spending create a tax consequence depends on how they are earned, who holds the account, and what they are ultimately used for. It is a five-minute conversation with an accountant that can save an awkward one with the ATO later.
GST, cash flow and the tier trap
There are two more traps worth naming.
The first is GST. When a reward reduces the price you pay, it can also reduce the GST credit you are entitled to claim on that purchase. Businesses registered for GST should make sure their accounting software — many now use MYOB or Zeller, both PowerPass Pro partners — is reconciling the discounted amount, not the sticker price.
The second is behavioural, and it is the one an accountant worries about most. Loyalty tiers are designed to change what you buy and where. Spending an extra $1,000 to unlock $50 in credit is not a saving; it is a $950 cost. For a tradie managing tight cash flow across jobs, chasing "Black" tier status can quietly pull working capital out of the business at exactly the wrong time. Rewards should follow the spending you were going to do anyway — never lead it.
The bottom line for tradies
PowerPass Pro is a genuinely improved program, and for high-volume trade accounts the fuel and points benefits can add up over a year. The mistake is treating the rewards as free money rather than as business inputs that need to be recorded properly.
Before the new scheme reshapes your purchasing habits, it is worth a short session with a wealth manager or accountant to set up three things: a clean way to record credits and discounts, a decision on how Qantas Points are handled, and a rule for yourself about when a tier is worth chasing. A professional who understands trade finances can turn a loyalty program into a real margin gain instead of a tidy-looking pile of store credit.
This article is general information only and does not constitute financial, tax or legal advice. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances — consult a registered accountant or financial adviser before acting.
