Do you have a student loan, have you thought about the fact that you need to be paying it off? Most of us do not need to think about this as our employer takes care of this for us and we receive our pay after any student loan repayments have happened.
But when you are self-employed, contracting or starting a side hassle, you will be obligated to take control of this yourself.
Here are some quick facts about student loans and the repayments to get you started,
- New Zealand student loans are interest free as long as you stay in New Zealand.
- You may see an interest charge, however if you stay in New Zealand this will get written off.
- There is an establishment fee of $60 and annual fees of $40 that the IRD charge.
- Repayments are 12% on any earnings over $24,128 (for the 2025 tax year)
When it comes to being self-employed, you will need to make separate payments to the IRD for your student loan repayments.
The IRD also looks at many different sources of income that are not included in your IR3, if you are earning any adjusted income, you will be required to file this with the IRD in a separate return.
If you student loan repayments are under $1,000, you are only required to make one payment per year. However, if your student loan repayment is over $1,000 then you need to be making at 3 interim payments, and potentially a final payment.
The interim payments are an uplift of your last student loan payment split into three. These payments are due on 28 August, 15 January and 7 May. Your final payment is due on 7 February or if you have a tax agent this is 7 April.
Have further questions? Get in touch today!
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