Even though I pay my HECS on each payslip, the ATO website indicates that the latest transaction was on September 3rd,2023 and that it hasn't been updated since. I want to pay off. How can I get the latest balance. Noted that I've done my tax return 2 months ago.
Hi @veeblefetzer,
It’s a bit tricky for us to answer as we can’t see your account and transactions, but I’ll try my best and not talk like you’re an accountant. Forgive me in advance - it's long.
I do not see a single entry for deductions made by any employer during that tax year.
If you’re paying compulsory repayments from your payslip these do not get applied to your HELP debt until after you’ve lodged your tax return. If they’re paid, you’ll see one lump sum payment that says HELP Compulsory repayment credit after your return has finished processing.
If it is a yearly thing, then why does the HELP summary page show me three years of debits and not a single credit, aside from my one and only voluntary payment?
The debits would be from indexation which is applied on 1 June each year to keep the loan in-line with cost of living. You don’t pay interest on your study loan, but you do have to pay indexation.
If there aren’t any ‘HELP Compulsory repayment credits’ displayed that means the extra tax wasn’t applied to your loan.
There’s a couple of reasons this might be the case:
I'm getting hit with an extra $200 tax this week which is for HELP but I'm getting the feeling it's not going towards my HELP debt.
How much income you earn determines how much you need to repay each year. You can use the repayment rates to work out how much you should be paying. An extra $200 per week seems like a lot unless you’re earning over $100k a year – which conflicts with the answer above. Again, I can’t see your account and can only go off what you’re telling me here.
how frequently does an employer have to lodge the deduction?
They don't lodge a deduction for your HELP loan. Your employer pays us the amount withheld, either quarterly, monthly or weekly depending on how big their business is.
when I view income statements in the ATO portal, there's still no mention of any HELP deductions. Just PAYGW, laundry and superannuation.
That’s because it’s included in your PAYG Withholding. These aren’t separate payments you make each time you’re paid. It’s simply extra tax put into the same bucket to cover everything you’ll need to pay at the end of the financial year.
It’s not until you lodge your tax return that we know how much you’ve earned. And therefore we can work out how much you owe for:
Only then is the tax you’ve paid from each payslip allocated to what you owe.
Hi @Mahshid,
Have you been making voluntary repayments? These take about 4 business days to process and reflect in your HELP loan balance.
Or was the latest transaction on 3 September your 2023 HELP Compulsory repayment credit? Compulsory repayments are only applied to your HELP loan as one lump sum after you've lodged your tax return.
If you choose to make a voluntary repayment and pay off your loan, just remember to submit a new withholding declaration to your employer so they can stop withholding the extra tax from your pay.
We've got an article all about paying your study loan, have a read and let us know if you have any more questions.
My hecs is deducting from my pay slip and I'm willing to pay the whole voluntary amount but I can't get the updated amount because the ato haven't updated the balance since September. My question is how I can get the latest balance as I have done all my tax returns.
Hey @Mahshid,
Has the balance updated since the processing of your return? If so, then that should be the balance to refer to.
The amounts you see deducted from your pay are extra pay as you go withholding. They're not applied to your loan straight away. The extra amount is because you're expected to have a compulsory repayment when you lodge your tax return at the end of the financial year.
Hello
I can see my one and only voluntary payment inside the ATO portal, which is great.
However, the employer deducted payments do not show. Ok, I understand now it's treated like a "extra pay as you go withholding". It would be good if ATO people didn't talk to us like we're tax accountants. But anyway, looking over my 2022-2023 tax return, I do not see a single entry for deductions made by any employer during that tax year. I've checked every section. My payslips show the deductions. So where's the money?
If it is a yearly thing, then why does the HELP summary page show me three years of debits and not a single credit, aside from my one and only voluntary payment?
I'm getting hit with an extra $200 tax this week which is for HELP but I'm getting the feeling it's not going towards my HELP debt.
Another question would be, how frequently does an employer have to lodge the deduction? Can they sit on it for a year or does it go along with STP lodgements. Because when I view income statements in the ATO portal, there's still no mention of any HELP deductions. Just PAYGW, laundry and superannuation.
It's not a good look.
Hi @veeblefetzer,
It’s a bit tricky for us to answer as we can’t see your account and transactions, but I’ll try my best and not talk like you’re an accountant. Forgive me in advance - it's long.
I do not see a single entry for deductions made by any employer during that tax year.
If you’re paying compulsory repayments from your payslip these do not get applied to your HELP debt until after you’ve lodged your tax return. If they’re paid, you’ll see one lump sum payment that says HELP Compulsory repayment credit after your return has finished processing.
If it is a yearly thing, then why does the HELP summary page show me three years of debits and not a single credit, aside from my one and only voluntary payment?
The debits would be from indexation which is applied on 1 June each year to keep the loan in-line with cost of living. You don’t pay interest on your study loan, but you do have to pay indexation.
If there aren’t any ‘HELP Compulsory repayment credits’ displayed that means the extra tax wasn’t applied to your loan.
There’s a couple of reasons this might be the case:
I'm getting hit with an extra $200 tax this week which is for HELP but I'm getting the feeling it's not going towards my HELP debt.
How much income you earn determines how much you need to repay each year. You can use the repayment rates to work out how much you should be paying. An extra $200 per week seems like a lot unless you’re earning over $100k a year – which conflicts with the answer above. Again, I can’t see your account and can only go off what you’re telling me here.
how frequently does an employer have to lodge the deduction?
They don't lodge a deduction for your HELP loan. Your employer pays us the amount withheld, either quarterly, monthly or weekly depending on how big their business is.
when I view income statements in the ATO portal, there's still no mention of any HELP deductions. Just PAYGW, laundry and superannuation.
That’s because it’s included in your PAYG Withholding. These aren’t separate payments you make each time you’re paid. It’s simply extra tax put into the same bucket to cover everything you’ll need to pay at the end of the financial year.
It’s not until you lodge your tax return that we know how much you’ve earned. And therefore we can work out how much you owe for:
Only then is the tax you’ve paid from each payslip allocated to what you owe.
Hello Riley,
Thanks for the prompt and comprehensive reply.
This week we get an extra (one off) payment which puts me into the 6% repayment bracket when I'm normally in the 3% bracket. So the HELP amount goes from $68 to $249 for the fortnight. So not cool, but it is what it is.
Ok, so last year my taxable income was only $42K, thereabouts. That's a nil repayment rate so effectively my deductions during the year came back to me in the $1.1 return.
How.
Annoying.
They weren't big deductions but when one is living on the edge, those tiny deductions would have been a nicer meal than a noodle cup.
So the $643 indexation amount I got slugged with this year could have been wiped a month later with my tax return. Instead, it's now compounding so next June I get another indexation slug before the next return where it's likely I will have a HELP compulsory repayment credit.
There's something the ATO could introduce on next years lodgement form. An option to apply a return, if due, to any HELP debt.
But here's the thing. I'm getting deductions added to my PAYGW that aren't applied to the HELP debt until AFTER it's had a yearly indexation.
At my current repayment rate I'm paying $34/week. $1768/year (ignoring any extra like this week). My current HELP debt is $9664. Using this year's rate of 7.10%, next June my HELP debt goes up by $686 to $10350. Then my $1768 gets applied at tax time, bringing it down to $8582. That's nice. However, if I was paying the $34/week directly to the debt, then it will be $7896 come indexation time (assuming I started direct payments right after the last indexation). Then I only get slugged $560.
Indexation is just keeping poor people poor. Call it what you want, but the words "New loan" feature on the HELP statement so let's call indexation the 'New interest'.
Clearly I need to roll my tax declaration back to the default and start paying directly each pay period.
Anyway, thanks for your excellent detailed reply.
Regards,
V
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