Latest news with #DaveAnanth
1News
12 hours ago
- Business
- 1News
Overseas Kiwis struggle with massive interest, penalties on student loans
A former IRD prosecutor is calling for changes to the student loan system so that Kiwis living overseas aren't put off coming home because they're worried about being arrested at the border. In April, interest rates for overseas borrowers were lifted from 3.9% to 4.9% and the late payment interest rate for all borrowers to 8.9%. Tax barrister Dave Ananth said this is putting people off returning to New Zealand at a time we should be encouraging skilled people to come home. A pilot who's been living in Australia for over 10 years has racked up a whopping $170,000 in student loan debt, most of it being interest. After completing his training in 2014 he struggled to find work in Aotearoa, so he headed across the ditch, where he worked as a commercial pilot for six years. ADVERTISEMENT When the Covid-19 pandemic hit and overseas travel all but ground to a halt, he was forced to take a low-paying job in a storage warehouse meaning he struggled to meet his loan payments. The pilot, who RNZ's Checkpoint has agreed not to name, has since resumed flying for a regional carrier, but worried about an uncertain job market and whether he'd ever pay off his loan. "This loan becomes an ongoing – it becomes a burden and it's not the fact the size of it. There's just no pathway forward as it currently stands." 'I just was deflated' Checkpoint also spoke to a woman who was unable to come home to see her sick mother as she was scared, she'd be arrested at the border. When she moved to the United States 20 years ago, her student loan debt was around $15,000. That had ballooned to close to $70,000. "When they told me how much penalty fees that I had and that was 10 years ago when I first found out about the penalty fees and that was more than my initial student loan and interest combined, I just was deflated." ADVERTISEMENT She received emails from IRD threatening legal action if she didn't pay, but she said she couldn't afford it. "You may think, 'oh no, I'm just going to go to a different country and make all my money there'. "But at some point, in time, when you're older, you're going to want to go back to your roots and see family and friends. I just screwed that up for myself. "Just don't get yourself in this situation like so many of us have where you can't even go home and see family when they're ill. "I've been petrified something's going to happen to my mum and she's going to pass away and I'm not even going to be able to go there." After getting legal help from former IRD prosecutor Dave Ananth, IRD agreed to wipe the penalty fees so she now need only pay the original $15,000 loan and interest. 80,000 overseas-based Kiwis with overdue payments ADVERTISEMENT Student loan. (Source: Ananth, who's a tax barrister with the law firm Stace Hammond, agreed there should be penalties for failure to pay but said these should be looked at on a case-by-case basis. "A lot of them are telling me I've not heard from IRD for the last 10 years, but IRD's perspective is it's your obligation, you should contact. "[It's] that sort of 'Who should contact? I'm away, you haven't rung me, there was no emails', that sort of thing. I think both sides need to come to the table." He also wanted better communication between IRD and the student debtor. "There should be a bit of leeway to say, 'Hey, OK you come in, but come back and talk to us and see whether a hardship application can be made, whether you can pay a few $100 for a start and then we can see how you go'." "For a lot of them because the loan has been taken, 15, 20 years ago they've got their head buried in the sand, they don't want to deal with it. So, it creates a lot of anxiety, creates mental stress for a lot of people." ADVERTISEMENT In the year to March, there were about 80,000 overseas-based student loan borrowers with overdue repayments – that's an increase of 10% on the year before. In total they owed $2.3 billion. Ananth said many people had found the grass wasn't greener overseas. "Everyone doesn't go overseas straight away and then lands in this cushy, $200,000, $300,000 job." He said people working in healthcare, technology, and engineering should be prioritised to help plug gaps in the job market here. Border arrests a last resort - IRD Inland Revenue said between January 23 and February 7 this year they had emailed 3502 borrowers with overdue repayments telling them they're being monitored, and that enforcement may be taken against them. ADVERTISEMENT That could include being arrested at the New Zealand border. But it said border arrests were a last resort, and it would work with people before taking legal action. One borrower in default had been arrested in the past year. IRD said it could consider remission of late payment interest, but on a case-by-case basis. It said borrowers often did not update their contact details when overseas making it harder for the department to contact them. The student loan base interest rate was increased by one percent in the 2024 Budget and was intended to partially cover the loss in value of the scheme due to recent high inflation. IRD did not set the student loan interest or late payment interest rates. "Student loan interest that has been correctly charged on overseas based borrowers student loan accounts cannot be written off under current legislation, nor can Inland Revenue accept any agreement that voids a borrower's liability to repay this. "We always encourage student loan borrowers to contact us directly to discuss their situation. There is no need to engage the services of a lawyer." By Bella Craig for
RNZ News
a day ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Overseas Kiwis struggling with massive interest and penalties on unpaid student loans
A student loan borrower who went overseas with a $15,000 loan, called in a tax barrister to help her when the debt ballooned to $70,000. Photo: RNZ / Kate Newton A former IRD prosecutor is calling for changes to the student loan system so that Kiwis living overseas aren't put off coming home because they're worried about being arrested at the border. In April, interest rates for overseas borrowers were lifted from 3.9 percent to 4.9 percent and the late payment interest rate for all borrowers to 8.9 percent. Tax barrister Dave Ananth said this is putting people off returning to New Zealand at a time we should be encouraging skilled people to come home. A pilot who's been living in Australia for over 10 years has racked up a whopping $170,000 in student loan debt, most of it being interest. After completing his training in 2014 he struggled to find work in Aotearoa, so he headed across the ditch, where he worked as a commercial pilot for six years. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit and overseas travel all but ground to a halt, he was forced to take a low-paying job in a storage warehouse meaning he struggled to meet his loan payments. The pilot, who Checkpoint has agreed not to name, has since resumed flying for a regional carrier, but worried about an uncertain job market and whether he'd ever pay off his loan. "This loan becomes an ongoing - it becomes a burden and it's not the fact the size of it. There's just no pathway forward as it currently stands." Checkpoint's also spoken to a woman who was unable to come home to see her sick mother as she was scared, she'd be arrested at the border. When she moved to the United States 20 years ago, her student loan debt was around $15,000. That had ballooned to close to $70,000. "When they told me how much penalty fees that I had and that was 10 years ago when I first found out about the penalty fees and that was more than my initial student loan and interest combined, I just was deflated." She received emails from IRD threatening legal action if she didn't pay, but she said she couldn't afford it. "You may think, 'oh no, I'm just going to go to a different country and make all my money there'. "But at some point, in time, when you're older, you're going to want to go back to your roots and see family and friends. I just screwed that up for myself. "Just don't get yourself in this situation like so many of us have where you can't even go home and see family when they're ill. "I've been petrified something's going to happen to my mum and she's going to pass away and I'm not even going to be able to go there." After getting legal help from former IRD prosecutor Dave Ananth, IRD agreed to wipe the penalty fees so she now need only pay the original $15,000 loan and interest. Ananth, who's a tax barrister with the law firm Stace Hammond, agreed there should be penalties for failure to pay but said these should be looked at on a case-by-case basis. "A lot of them are telling me I've not heard from IRD for the last 10 years, but IRD's perspective is it's your obligation, you should contact. "[It's] that sort of 'Who should contact? I'm away, you haven't rung me, there was no emails', that sort of thing. I think both sides need to come to the table." He also wanted better communication between IRD and the student debtor. "There should be a bit of leeway to say, 'Hey, okay you come in, but come back and talk to us and see whether a hardship application can be made, whether you can pay a few $100 for a start and then we can see how you go'." "For a lot of them because the loan has been taken, 15, 20 years ago they've got their head buried in the sand, they don't want to deal with it. So, it creates a lot of anxiety, creates mental stress for a lot of people." In the year to March, there were about 80,000 overseas-based student loan borrowers with overdue repayments - that's an increase of 10 percent on the year before. In total they owed $2.3 billion. Ananth said many people had found the grass wasn't greener overseas. "Everyone doesn't go overseas straight away and then lands in this cushy, $200,000, $300,000 job." He said people working in healthcare, technology, and engineering should be prioritised to help plug gaps in the job market here. Inland Revenue said between 23 January and 7 February this year they had emailed 3502 borrowers with overdue repayments telling them they're being monitored, and that enforcement may be taken against them. That could include being arrested at the New Zealand border. But it said border arrests were a last resort, and it would work with people before taking legal action. One borrower in default had been arrested in the past year. IRD said it could consider remission of late payment interest, but on a case-by-case basis. It said borrowers often did not update their contact details when overseas making it harder for the department to contact them. The student loan base interest rate was increased by one percent in the 2024 Budget and was intended to partially cover the loss in value of the scheme due to recent high inflation. IRD did not set the student loan interest or late payment interest rates. "Student loan interest that has been correctly charged on overseas based borrowers student loan accounts cannot be written off under current legislation, nor can Inland Revenue accept any agreement that voids a borrower's liability to repay this. "We always encourage student loan borrowers to contact us directly to discuss their situation. There is no need to engage the services of a lawyer." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
a day ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Kiwis worried about arrest over student loan debt crackdowns
law politics 42 minutes ago A former IRD prosecutor is calling for changes to the student loan system so that Kiwis living overseas aren't put off coming home because they're worried about being arrested at the border. In April, interest rates for overseas borrowers was lifted from 3.9% to 4.9% and the late payment interest rate for all borrowers to 8.9%. Tax barrister Dave Ananth says this is putting people off returning to New Zealand at a time we should be encouraging skilled people to come home. Bella Craig reports.
RNZ News
22-04-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Are student loan interest rates, penalties blocking returns?
For those with a student loan and living overseas - the start of the month came with a hit to their bank account. From April 1, an additional 1 percent is being applied to student loan interest rates, which is paid by those living offshore. That takes the base rate to 4.9 percent and the late payment rate -- which is charged on overdue amounts from student loan borrowers in both New Zealand and overseas -- to a steep 8.9 percent. $2.2 billion dollars is owed by former students living overseas. The latest student loan scheme report, published last December says overseas-based borrowers make up an increasingly large amount of overdue repayments. A tax barrister with the law firm Stace Hammond and a former prosecutor with the IRD, Dave Ananth, who has been successful in helping former students get on top of their loan repayments says the increase in interest rates has come at exactly the wrong time and that we should be encouraging talented New Zealanders to return home.
RNZ News
22-04-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
student loan interest rates
For those with a student loan and living overseas - the start of the month came with a hit to their bank account. From April 1, an additional 1 percent is being applied to student loan interest rates, which is paid by those living offshore. That takes the base rate to 4.9 percent and the late payment rate -- which is charged on overdue amounts from student loan borrowers in both New Zealand and overseas -- to a steep 8.9 percent. $2.2 billion dollars is owed by former students living overseas. The latest student loan scheme report, published last December says overseas-based borrowers make up an increasingly large amount of overdue repayments. A tax barrister with the law firm Stace Hammond and a former prosecutor with the IRD, Dave Ananth, who has been successful in helping former students get on top of their loan repayments says the increase in interest rates has come at exactly the wrong time and that we should be encouraging talented New Zealanders to return home. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
