You have 5 years from your loan’s date of approval to pay off the loan. You do not have to make repayments in the first 2 years, unless you were not eligible, or a default has been actioned in that period. Generally, we do not charge interest during the first 2 years.
Making repayments
You need to start monthly repayments of the outstanding balance after 2 years from the date of the loan’s approval. We will send you a repayment schedule in myIR, outlining the repayment dates and amounts needed. If you do not have a repayment schedule, get in touch with us.
If you make voluntary repayments in the first 2 years, your repayment plan will have lower required repayments.
If you want to change a repayment plan or you cannot meet a payment at any stage, contact us as soon as possible to talk about your situation. Any missed payments are an event of default on the loan, meaning you may have to immediately repay the loan in full, with any interest.
Payment methods
You can make payments towards your SBCS loan using any of our repayment options, including direct debit. The tax type for the loan is SBC.
Ways of paying
You can ask us to pay any tax refund towards your loan balance instead of paying it to you. If you'd like to do this, message us in myIR. Refunds may be used to pay off other tax debts first if you have them.
Loan interest
The annual interest rate is 3% once repayments start 2 years from the date of the loan contract.
First 2 years interest-free
From 21 March 2022 the first 2 years of the loan became interest-free. This change applied to existing borrowers, if there had not been any default on your SBCS loan.
For all new borrowers, this change automatically applied from 21 March 2022. If you chose to draw down the loan in up to 4 separate amounts (up to the maximum loan amount), the 2-year interest-free period began from the date of your first drawdown.
Interest on top up loans
Existing borrowers who applied for a top up loan have 2 separate loans with 2 separate interest-free periods. For example, for the:
- existing SBCS loan, the interest free period applies 2 years from the date the loan was made available to you
- top up loan, the interest free period applies 2 years from the date the first drawdown of the top up loan was made available to you.
If you chose to receive the top up loan in up to 4 separate amounts (up to the maximum loan amount) instead of a single lump sum, the interest-free period started from your first drawdown of the top up loan. Any further drawdowns does not create a new interest-free period.
Interest charges if you default on the loan
If you default on your loan, you may have to immediately repay the loan in full with any interest and default interest that may be charged.
If we recall a loan because of a default we'll charge a higher interest rate.
The balance of the principal loan amount plus any standard interest will have default interest calculated on it. The default interest is calculated daily.
Default interest is the standard interest rate of 3% rate plus an added amount and is calculated as follows:
loan balance x [UOMI (use of money interest)* + Standard loan interest]
In this formula:
- loan balance includes principal and standard loan interest
- * UOMI underpayment rate.
Unlike UOMI charged on taxes, the interest charged on the loan cannot be remitted.