I'm entirely incapable of understanding how a UK SLC "loan" can be considered a loan in the conventional sense of the word when it seems to have literally no ch

I'm entirely incapable of understanding how a UK SLC "loan" can be considered a loan in the conventional sense of the word when it seems to have literally no characteristics of a loan, and every characteristic of a tax: * You only pay it when you are in employment and earning money (with a minimum salary for repayments to be taken); * The repayments are calculated as a function of your taxable income; * The balance isn't discharged by bankruptcy; * The balance isn't considered by lenders when assessing your suitability to take on "real" debt. As far as I can tell, it's a graduate tax (on those who took a loan) for all intents and purposes. I see comments from students talking about being "crushed by debt" as a result of taking an SLC loan, and I just can't work out where this perception comes from: yes, it decreases your take-home pay, but since there's a minimum salary threshold for payments to be taken, it's never going to leave you destitute.