Making payments to the IRD in New Zealand from overseas can be a big hassle and a very expensive proposition. When you’re living in the United Kingdom it can be difficult to keep on top of your commitments to the New Zealand tax authorities. For anyone living overseas with a New Zealand student loan, they will also find that their loan starts attracting interest once they’ve been out of NZ for more than half the year. This makes it essential to get that student loan paid off as soon as possible, if you want to avoid what can become a lifelong drag on your finances.

Student loan repayments for overseas residents are due twice a year, one on September 30th and one on the 31st of March. While overseas residents are free to make regular payments throughout the year if they wish, these transfers can often come at quite a significant cost so they find it easier and cheaper to pay in two lump sums.

As of April 2014, the IRD in New Zealand has released revised minimum payments for expatriate New Zealand student loan holders. At the time of writing these are the annual obligations of student loan holders who are not resident in New Zealand:

1. Loan balance of under $1000: Due in full
2. Loan balance of $1001-$15000: $1000
3. Loan balance of $15,001-$30,000: $2000
4. Loan balance of $30,001-$45,000: $3000
5. Loan balance of $45,001-$60,000: $4000
6. Loan balance exceeding $60,001: $5000

Failing to meet your obligations to the Inland Revenue Department, especially if you are substantially behind on your repayments, may result in you being prohibited from leaving NZ the next time you go home for a visit so it’s a pretty important thing to stay on top of.

All of the same applies to your child support obligations and other outstanding tax. If you have obligations to the Inland Revenue Department, it is extremely important that you discuss these with the IRD prior to departing for the UK. You need to know exactly where you stand and what your obligations are going to be. Just because you’re out of the country it doesn’t mean that you can forget about the tax office until you get back.

When it comes to payment options the IRD has a range of different payment methods available, but depending on what obligations you are meeting these can be expensive. With convenience fees on credit card repayments and the banks charging exorbitant fees for a direct telegraphic transfer, making regular payments to the New Zealand IRD can quickly become a very substantial expense – not ideal when your mission in the first place is to pay off debt!

Using OrbitRemit to make payments to the New Zealand IRD (no matter what the payments are for) is fee-free, which makes it a lot easier to make smaller, regular payments on your commitments. This saves you having to find a huge chunk of money to send back at one time. We receive payments in the United Kingdom and arrange to have them credited immediately to the IRD back in New Zealand – generally the tax department will get your remittance within one business day of us receiving cleared funds.