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Student Loan Scheme Act 2011

Interest, relief, penalties and offences, rights of objection, and rights to challenge - Relief - Relief from penalties

146A: Commissioner may grant relief from penalties

You could also call this:

“The tax office can remove penalties if you ask and explain your situation”

The Commissioner can cancel some or all of a penalty if you’ve been charged with one. This applies even if you’ve already paid some or all of the penalty. You need to apply for this relief.

When deciding whether to cancel a penalty, the Commissioner will look at your situation. They’ll think about what’s fair and may cancel as much of the penalty as they think is right.

In this case, a penalty means a late notification penalty or a student loan shortfall penalty. But there’s an exception for some student loan shortfall penalties. If your penalty was because of certain tax rules, it doesn’t count as a penalty that can be cancelled.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5138877.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Banking and loans Education and learning > Higher education
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146: Commissioner may grant relief from late payment interest, or

"You can ask for help to cancel some late payment interest on your student loan"

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"Help if you're struggling to pay back your student loan"

Part 4 Interest, relief, penalties and offences, rights of objection, and rights to challenge
Relief: Relief from penalties

146ACommissioner may grant relief from penalties

  1. Subsection (2) applies—

  2. if a borrower has been charged with a penalty; and
    1. regardless of whether that penalty has been paid, either in whole or in part; and
      1. if an application is made under section 145(1)(ab).

        1. The Commissioner may, having regard to the circumstances of the case and if the Commissioner considers it equitable to do so, grant relief to the borrower by cancelling as much of the penalty as the Commissioner considers equitable.

        2. For the purposes of this section, penalty—

        3. means—
          1. a late notification penalty:
              1. a student loan shortfall penalty; but
              2. despite paragraph (a)(iii), does not include a student loan shortfall penalty where, for the purposes of the application of section 159 (as set out in section 158), the shortfall penalty for which the borrower was liable was imposed under section 141D or 141E of the Tax Administration Act 1994.

                Notes
                • Section 146A: inserted, on (applying for 2013–14 and later tax years), by section 62 of the Student Loan Scheme Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 10).
                • Section 146A(3)(a)(i): replaced, on , by section 19 of the Taxation (Residential Land Withholding Tax, GST on Online Services, and Student Loans) Act 2016 (2016 No 21).
                • Section 146A(3)(a)(ii): repealed, on , by section 69 of the Taxation (KiwiSaver, Student Loans, and Remedial Matters) Act 2020 (2020 No 5).