IRD wants to arrest top 20 student loan defaulters
The IRD says it is monitoring and considering the arrest of 20 former students who have kept defaulting on loan payments.
Hot Topic
Hawke’s Bay
See also: Editor's Insight: Student loan crackdown pays off but real cost keeps mounting
The government is cracking down on borrowers who have fallen behind on their student loan repayments.
Inland Revenue says it is monitoring and considering the arrest of 20 students who have kept defaulting on loan payments.
As of May 2015, there are more than 730,000 student loan borrowers, 15% of whom live overseas. It is estimated that $3.1 billion is owed by those borrowers living overseas.
In the past year, 20 new cases of Australian-based borrowers were referred for legal enforcement. Nineteen of these cases have had notices of proceedings served and three of these borrowers have now paid their arrears in full.
Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce says people constantly failing to repay loans can run but they can’t hide.
“Just because people have left New Zealand, it doesn’t mean they can leave behind their debt,” he says.
He adds the New Zealand taxpayer helped to fund their education and they have an obligation to repay it so the scheme can continue to support future generations of students.
The IRD has been running a campaign for almost half a decade, which cracks down on loan borrowers living overseas not repaying their loans.
In the year to June, $185 million was collected from overseas-based borrowers, including $79 million directly as a result of the overseas-based borrowers’ initiative.
Revenue Minister Todd McClay says the IRD's investment in following up borrowers who have fallen behind on their student loan repayments is paying significant dividends.
He says people who are not repaying their loans shouldn’t have to wait for IRD to contact them.
“For those defaulting borrowers who don’t call, their contact details will start coming in from next year and Inland Revenue will follow these up,” Mr McClay says.
Jason Walls
Thu, 30 Jul 2015
Thu, 30 Jul 2015
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
IRD wants to arrest top 20 student loan defaulters
50050