Study Loan refund?
The bill to change the annual indexation for study and training loans has now passed Parliament.
Once the change has received Royal Asset, the annual indexation for study and training loans will be based on either the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or Wage Price Index (WPI) – whichever is lower.
This change will be backdated to indexation applied from 1 June 2023 for all HELP, VET Student Loan, Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan and other study or training support loan accounts.
The new indexation rates for the two previous years are:
- 3.2% for 1 June 2023 – reduced from 7.1%
- 4.0% for 1 June 2024 – reduced from 4.7%.
What you need to do
For Taxpayers with a study or training loan, or had a study or training loan that was indexed on 1 June 2023 or 1 June 2024, you don’t need to do anything.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is currently recrediting excess indexation amounts directly to your study and training loan accounts. The ATO’s calculations will accommodate any compounding effect of the indexation across both income years.
If you have previously provided your mobile phone number to the ATO, you’ll be notified by SMS when they have processed the recredit to your loan account.
If your study or training loan account is in credit after the adjustment, this credit will be transferred to your Income Tax account. It will then be applied against other primary tax or Commonwealth debts (if applicable), and any remaining amount refunded to your nominated bank account.
Most Taxpayers will see these credits on their accounts by the end of January 2025. Some credits will take a bit longer than others to show on their accounts depending on the complexity.
You are able to view your study or training loan account online, using myGov and ATO online services. To locate the balance of your loan accounts:
- Access ATO online services.
- Select Tax.
- Select Accounts.
- Select Loan accounts.
For more information about the indexation change, or how the credits will be received, you can go to the ATO’s website here or, contact our office for more information.
