The national social insurance institution-Kela on Wednesday asked the students to voluntarily repay the overpaid student financial aid for 2022 by the end of April to avoid fine.
If the student does not repay the money during the stipulated period, Kela will recover 7.5% higher amount than the overpaid amount, said Kela in a press release.
Students can check the preliminary information on the annual income that will be taken into account for the purposes of student financial aid in the OmaKela e-service.
On the basis of the preliminary information, students can determine whether they will have to repay financial aid.
The overpaid financial aid, i.e. study grant and housing supplement, must be repaid but the voluntary repayment provision does not apply to the general housing allowance.
“Last year, 30,670 students returned a total of 24.9 million euros voluntarily. We estimate that there will be less repayments this year because the income limits in connection with student financial aid were increased in 2022,” said Ilpo Lahtinen, Senior Coordinator in Kela's Student Financial Aid Section.
In April, Kela receives information from the tax office on the incomes in the pre-completed tax returns. On the basis of this preliminary information, Kela provides an overview in the OmaKela e-service for students who receive student financial aid.
If the student exceeds the annual income limit according to the preliminary information, Kela will inform the student about this via text message or e-mail.
“We remind students to check the income limit and tell them about the time limit for voluntary repayment in the message,” said Lahtinen.
- Kela
- Student
- Benifit
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
