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Student Loan Scheme Act 2011

Matters of general application and miscellaneous matters - Miscellaneous matters - Disclosure of information

208: Disclosure of information between Inland Revenue Department and New Zealand Customs Service for information-matching purposes

You could also call this:

“Sharing your student loan info between tax and border officials”

This law allows the Inland Revenue Department and the New Zealand Customs Service to share information about you if you have a student loan. They do this to check if you live in New Zealand or overseas, if you’re a New Zealand resident, and to find you when you enter or leave New Zealand if you’re not paying your loan.

The Inland Revenue Department can give Customs your name, birthday, tax number, and passport number. The two departments can decide how often they share this information, what it looks like, and how they send it to each other.

Even if other laws say this information should be kept secret, they can still share it for this purpose.

From 1 December 2020, they can only share this information if they have a special agreement that follows the rules in the Privacy Act.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3180423.

Topics:
Education and learning > Higher education Money and consumer rights > Banking and loans
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207: Disclosure of information between authorised persons, or

"Sharing student loan info between certain people to check if borrowers are truthful"

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209: Power of Commissioner to access arrival or departure information, or

"The Commissioner can check when people enter or leave New Zealand"

Part 5 Matters of general application and miscellaneous matters
Miscellaneous matters: Disclosure of information

208Disclosure of information between Inland Revenue Department and New Zealand Customs Service for information-matching purposes

  1. The purpose of this section is to facilitate the exchange of information between the Inland Revenue Department and the New Zealand Customs Service for the purpose of establishing an information-matching programme to assist the Commissioner to—

  2. verify whether borrowers are New Zealand-based or overseas-based; and
    1. verify whether borrowers are New Zealand residents; and
      1. locate, when they enter or leave New Zealand, borrowers who are in serious default (within the meaning of section 306 of the Customs and Excise Act 2018) in relation to student loans.

        1. For the purpose of this section, the Commissioner may provide to the chief executive of the New Zealand Customs Service any of the following information that is held by the Inland Revenue Department:

        2. a borrower's name or any other name by which a borrower is known:
          1. a borrower's date of birth:
            1. a borrower's tax file number:
              1. a borrower’s passport number.

                1. The Commissioner and the chief executive of the New Zealand Customs Service may, for the purpose of this section, determine by written agreement between them—

                2. the frequency with which information may be supplied; and
                  1. the form in which information may be supplied; and
                    1. the method by which information may be supplied.

                      1. Subsection (2) applies despite any obligation as to secrecy or other restriction imposed by any enactment or otherwise on the disclosure of information.

                      2. On or after 1 December 2020, no information may be disclosed under this section except under—

                      3. an information matching agreement entered into under Part 10 of the Privacy Act 1993 and continued by clause 11 of Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 2020; or
                        1. an approved information sharing agreement entered into under subpart 1 of Part 7 of the Privacy Act 2020.

                          Compare
                          Notes
                          • Section 208(1): replaced, on , by section 37 of the Student Loan Scheme Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 10).
                          • Section 208(1)(c): amended, on , by section 443(3) of the Customs and Excise Act 2018 (2018 No 4).
                          • Section 208(2)(d): inserted, on , by section 190 of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2020–21, Feasibility Expenditure, and Remedial Matters) Act 2021 (2021 No 8).
                          • Section 208(5): inserted, on , by section 190 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).