@jestdotty That's messed up. It's so unprofessional when an interviewer acts like they stand above you and tell you straight up that you need to learn more. It's needlessly kicking someone when they're down -.-

@Demolishun Well, they will most certainly deduct from my salary first. If I then don't pay the rest, I most probably won't go to jail or face big legal consequences.

However, they would continue to intimidate me. They might hire a private company to try to recover the money they believe I owe them, etc.

On top of that, I will still need a reply from them for tax returns

For those reasons, I decided to settle and comply