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James1911(Newbie)Newbie
22 May 2024

I paid off my HECS FEE HELP debt prior to the end of the last financial year.

However, I still paid indexation on the total remaining at the beginning of FY 2022, and did not receive the return of any excess that I paid over the outstanding amount.

Is there any way of finding out how much over I paid?


The website is terribly unhelpful, and the last ATO person I spoke to could only tell me what I already knew.


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3 replies
561 views
3 replies

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RileyATO(Community Moderator)Community Moderator
27 May 2024

Thanks @James1911, that makes things clearer.


So we’ve got:

  • 6 July 2022 – Compulsory repayment credit $4,632.92
  • Remaining balance $5,233.17
  • 1 June 2023 7.1% Indexation $371.54
  • $5233.17 + $371.54 = remaining balance $5,604.71
  • 2023 compulsory repayment credit $5,604.71.
  • Final balance $0.00.

If I averaged to pay $150 per week for a year to service my HELP debt, it's likely I paid over $7500, according to my payslips. As I received shift loading, it may be closer to $8500.

No, the amount your employer withholds isn’t equal to what your compulsory repayment is. Your compulsory repayment is a percentage of your income. Your 2023 compulsory repayment was $5,604.71. Anything above that would’ve been first used to pay any remaining liabilities you have (tax, Medicare, any debts with other government agencies, etc.) before being refunded to you.


That said, I'd like to know how much has been withheld. There's no way I can find out, as far as I can tell.

You can view how much tax has been withheld in total on your notice of assessment – the extra amounts withheld for HECS are not separate. We don’t keep a separate record of these because it’s treated exactly the same as all the other tax withheld from your pay. If your employer has shown them separately on your payslips, that’s up to them and how they do their payroll.

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RileyATO(Community Moderator)Community Moderator
24 May 2024

Hi @James1911,


Could you provide some more details of why you think it was overpaid? Transaction dates would be helpful.

Indexation is applied close to the end of the FY on 1 June, not the beginning.

From what you've written it seems indexation was applied in FY22 and then you paid out the total amount in FY23.


Any amounts withheld by your employer to help cover your expected compulsory repayments are included as regular tax and used to pay all your tax liabilities. They're included on your notice of assessment as pay as you go (PAYG) credits. So, if they weren't refunded it may have been because you had another amount owing.


In the meantime, have a read of our article that explains how paying HECS HELP student loans works.

James1911(Newbie)Newbie
25 May 2024

2023 HELP Compulsory repayment credit $5,604.71 $0.00

1 Jun 2023 Indexation applied on HELP debt of $5233.00 @ 7.10 % $371.54

6 Jul 2022 HELP Compulsory repayment credit $4,632.92

$5,233.17 (remaining)


Riley,

The above was taken from the HTML data available regarding my repayments.

If I averaged to pay $150 per week for a year to service my HELP debt, it's likely I paid over $7500, according to my payslips.

As I received shift loading, it may be closer to $8500.


That said, I'd like to know how much has been withheld.

There's no way I can find out, as far as I can tell.


Most helpful reply

RileyATO(Community Moderator)Community Moderator
27 May 2024

Thanks @James1911, that makes things clearer.


So we’ve got:

  • 6 July 2022 – Compulsory repayment credit $4,632.92
  • Remaining balance $5,233.17
  • 1 June 2023 7.1% Indexation $371.54
  • $5233.17 + $371.54 = remaining balance $5,604.71
  • 2023 compulsory repayment credit $5,604.71.
  • Final balance $0.00.

If I averaged to pay $150 per week for a year to service my HELP debt, it's likely I paid over $7500, according to my payslips. As I received shift loading, it may be closer to $8500.

No, the amount your employer withholds isn’t equal to what your compulsory repayment is. Your compulsory repayment is a percentage of your income. Your 2023 compulsory repayment was $5,604.71. Anything above that would’ve been first used to pay any remaining liabilities you have (tax, Medicare, any debts with other government agencies, etc.) before being refunded to you.


That said, I'd like to know how much has been withheld. There's no way I can find out, as far as I can tell.

You can view how much tax has been withheld in total on your notice of assessment – the extra amounts withheld for HECS are not separate. We don’t keep a separate record of these because it’s treated exactly the same as all the other tax withheld from your pay. If your employer has shown them separately on your payslips, that’s up to them and how they do their payroll.

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