Students should return overpaid financial aid by the end of April

Students whose income in 2023 exceeded the annual income limit for student financial aid can voluntarily repay overpaid financial aid. The overpaid financial aid, i.e. study grant and housing supplement, must be repaid at the latest by Tuesday, 30 April 2024. The annual income limit and the voluntary repayment provision do not apply to the general housing allowance.

“Last year, 26,020 students returned a total of 21.1 million euros voluntarily. We estimate that the amount of repayments will be less this year because the income limits for student financial aid were increased significantly in 2022 and again in 2023,” says Ilpo Lahtinen, Senior Coordinator at 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 2023 was can check the limit in the OmaKela e-service (in Finnish or Swedish) or by calling Kela’s customer service. Information on the income limits for 2023 is also available on Kela’s website.

Students can use the OmaKela e-service to check preliminary information on annual income and return financial aid

Kela receives information from the Finnish Tax Administration on the incomes in the pre-completed tax returns. On the basis of this preliminary information, Kela generates a summary in the OmaKela e-service for students who receive student financial aid. Students can check the summary in OmaKela.

If the preliminary tax information indicates that the student has exceeded the annual income limit, Kela will notify the student of this via text message or email at the beginning of April. Kela sends notifications to all students who have given Kela permission to send messages. Permission to send messages can be given in OmaKela.

Student financial aid can also be repaid in OmaKela. Students can access the 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 right away as an online payment through the student’s bank. Another option is to write down the information needed and make the repayment by the end of April.

Kela notifies the Tax Administration of the amounts of financial aid repaid

The Finnish Tax Administration 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 automatically notify the Tax Administration of the amounts of financial aid returned voluntarily in March and April. This means that students need not revise their tax return form on that account. The Tax Administration will take into account all repayments when calculating students' final tax liability.

Additional information for customers

• How income affects financial aid
• Returning financial aid
• Calculators for students' own income (in Finnish and Swedish)
• Kela on Instagram