Are you breathing a sigh of relief because you're making the last payment on your student loan? Think again.
The IRD has a magician's ability to find fresh debt for you to pay. You could be happily going along for years thinking that your student loan debt is under control, or that you are almost at the end, when suddenly, out of the blue, someone from the IRD will write to you and tell you that no your debt is much higher than you thought. The IRD might tell you that they miscalculated interest because they didn’t know that you had gone overseas. If you are self employed they might say that they have recalculated your loan balance as they didn't have the correct income figures in the past. Usually the failure is the IRD's mistake but guess who has to pay?
What impact does it have when the IRD notifies people many years down the track that their student loan debt is much higher than the borrower thought? Obviously, your peace of mind and financial security can be destroyed overnight. There's also the issue that had you been told the true level of the debt when you should have been you may have sorted your finances differently. For some people this might have meant choosing bankruptcy over struggling to pay the IRD back for many years. If student loan debtors are not informed of the true value of their debt they pay more. Misinformation benefits the IRD.
The moral of the story is that you should very carefully check your balance with the IRD. Have you got a story to tell? Or, do you need to talk to someone about your debt? Please contact us as we can help.
The IRD has a magician's ability to find fresh debt for you to pay. You could be happily going along for years thinking that your student loan debt is under control, or that you are almost at the end, when suddenly, out of the blue, someone from the IRD will write to you and tell you that no your debt is much higher than you thought. The IRD might tell you that they miscalculated interest because they didn’t know that you had gone overseas. If you are self employed they might say that they have recalculated your loan balance as they didn't have the correct income figures in the past. Usually the failure is the IRD's mistake but guess who has to pay?
What impact does it have when the IRD notifies people many years down the track that their student loan debt is much higher than the borrower thought? Obviously, your peace of mind and financial security can be destroyed overnight. There's also the issue that had you been told the true level of the debt when you should have been you may have sorted your finances differently. For some people this might have meant choosing bankruptcy over struggling to pay the IRD back for many years. If student loan debtors are not informed of the true value of their debt they pay more. Misinformation benefits the IRD.
The moral of the story is that you should very carefully check your balance with the IRD. Have you got a story to tell? Or, do you need to talk to someone about your debt? Please contact us as we can help.