Overpaid student financial aid can be repaid during April 2023

If you want to voluntarily repay student financial aid for 2022, you must do this before the end of April. 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. If the student does not repay the overpaid financial aid by the end of April, Kela will recover the overpaid amount increased by 7.5%.

13.4.2023

News article

Students whose 2022 income exceeds the annual limit can return overpaid financial aid payments by the end of April. The overpaid financial aid, i.e. study grant and housing supplement, must be repaid at the latest by Sunday, 30 April 2023. The annual income limit and the voluntary repayment provision do 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, says Ilpo Lahtinen, Senior Coordinator in Kela's Student Financial Aid Section.

Students whose income exceeds the annual limit and who do not return excess aid will be required to pay back the aid to Kela. In that case, the amount to be repaid is 7.5% higher than when the student repays financial aid voluntarily.

Students who are unsure what their annual income limit for 2022 has been can check the limit in the OmaKela e-service or by calling Kela’s customer service. Information on the income limits for 2022 is also available on Kela’s website.

The preliminary information on the annual incomes can be checked in the OmaKela e-service

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.

– In this way, we help students estimate the annual income that will be taken into account in connection with the annual income check, says Lahtinen.

Recipients of financial aid can thus check the preliminary information on the annual income that will be taken into account for the purposes of financial aid in the OmaKela e-service. 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, says Lahtinen.

Kela notifies all those students who have given Kela permission to send messages. You can give Kela permission to send messages in the OmaKela e-service.

Student financial aid can be repaid in the OmaKela e-service

Financial aid payments can be returned online. Students can access the OmaKela e-service to see for which months they can return financial aid and how much their annual income limit will go up if they voluntarily return aid for those months. The voluntary repayment can be made online directly through the student’s bank. Alternatively, the student can take note of the payment details and pay back the overpaid financial aid by the end of April.

Kela notifies the tax office of the amounts of financial aid repaid

The tax office will send taxpayers a pre-completed tax return form. Repayments of financial aid received by the end of February are taken into account in the tax return. Kela will notify the tax office of the amounts of financial aid returned voluntarily between March and April. This means that students need not revise their tax return on that account. The tax office will take into account all repayments when calculating students' final tax liability.