Overseas obligations to repay HELP, VSL or TSL Debt

If you plan to live and work overseas and have a study or training support loan, you are required to:

• update your contact details and submit an overseas travel notification within seven days of leaving Australia. This is if you have an intention to (or already) reside overseas for 183 days or more in any 12 months

• lodge your worldwide income or a non-lodgment advice.

This applies to people with the following types of loans:

• Higher Education Loan Program (HELP – formerly known as HECS)
• VET Student Loan (VSL)
• Trade Support Loan (TSL).

The deadline for you to report for the Australian income year (1 July to 30 June) is 31 October. It's important you lodge on time, even if you can't pay straight away, as you'll avoid a penalty for lodging late.

Your student or training loan will continue to be indexed each year until it is paid. You can make additional voluntary repayments from overseas at any time to reduce the balance. These will not reduce any compulsory repayment or overseas levy obligations you may have or you will get a $3,600 fine on returning home.

Your worldwide income is your repayment income and your non-resident foreign sourced income. Your non-resident foreign sourced income is any income you earned from sources outside of Australia while you were a non-resident.

To determine the next steps in reporting your worldwide income, you will first need to work out if you are an Australian resident or Non-resident.

If your worldwide income (converted into Australian dollars) exceeds the minimum repayment thresholds, you will be required to make a repayment of your study or training loan liability. Repayments may be in the form of a compulsory repayment or an overseas levy depending on how your worldwide income is made up.

To assist in determining your worldwide income, you may need to refer to notices or statements you have received in your country of residence, or country you earned worldwide income. These may include, but are not limited to:

• tax assessment or summary from a foreign tax authority (for example, those issued from HMRC, IRS, National Tax Agency)
• payment summaries or income statements, or payment slips from employers
• bank statements
• notices showing amount of government benefits received
• dividend and interest certificates
• rental income statements
• receipts to claim deductions for expenses incurred in earning non-resident foreign sourced income, for example, work-related expenses you incurred while performing your job as an employee.

If you did not earn more than 25% of the minimum repayment threshold for the income year you will need to submit a non-lodgment advice.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us on info@suezaccounting.com.au if you would like to know more.