See what your rights and responsibilities are when paying off your student loan.

The Ministry of Education provides advice to the government on student loan policies.

StudyLink who are part of the Ministry of Social Development process all student loan applications and manage them for the first year. They then transfer the loan to us in February of the second academic year.

New Zealand Customs Service (Customs) share information with us so we can check your eligibility for an interest-free student loan.

We (Inland Revenue):

• manage the collection of your student loan repayments from the year after you've borrowed
• apply interest charges and interest write-offs
• tell you how much your loan balance is
• send you at least 2 statements each year in May and October
• give you information on our website to help you manage your student loan, and
• provide online services such as looking at your account information online and using the repayment calculator.

Your rights as a borrower

• You can seek advice on your student loan legal obligations from an independent source.
• We can't give information about your student loan to anyone else without your consent. You can give permission for someone to get information about your loan by filling in an Elect someone to act on your behalf (IR597) form.
• You have the right under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 to know the total amount of money that you need to pay back.
• You have the right to see most of the personal information we hold about you, and to ask us to correct any errors.
• You can ask for a student loan statement at any time by calling our 0800 self-service line on 0800 257 777.

Your responsibilities as a borrower

You'll need to:

• make sure we have your correct name and contact details
• if you're in New Zealand, tell your employer that you have a student loan and make sure you are on the correct tax code. See our  work out your tax code decision tree to help you find the correct code.
• let us know if you're going overseas for 6 months or more, and when you return
• meet all your student loan responsibilities until your loan is repaid in full.

Challenging an assessment

If you disagree with the amount we say you owe, you can challenge it. You can either call us, go to "Contact us", or for more information see our leaflet If you disagree with an assessment (IR778) - go to "Forms and guides".

Giving us information

We ask for certain information from you to work out your repayments or entitlements under the Inland Revenue Acts (including the Student Loan Scheme Act 1992).

We may exchange information about you with:

• Work and Income
• StudyLink
• Ministry of Social Development
• New Zealand Customs Service
• Department for Courts
• Ministry of Education
• Accident Compensation Corporation, or
• their contracted agencies.

We may provide information to:

• overseas countries which New Zealand has an information supply agreement with, and
• Statistics New Zealand (for statistical purposes only).