NI contributions

shazkhan111

I have received a letter for HMc advising me that I have a shortfall in my NI contributions for 2 tax years

The first i was at uni and the second i was job hunting.

Should i have made contributions in this time? if not then is there any way of advising them of this or should i just pay it and get it over with?

bit confused ...plzz help!

HGLTsuperstar

How old are you and when are you looking to retire. Remember you now only need 30 years of NI contributions and there is current uproar about such notices where people have made extra contributions unnecessarily and are now fighting to get them back.

jo101_2

Hi

I have had a few of these, one for the period while I was living in another country and was for over a grand which rightly or wronly I decided not to pay as I couldn't afford it and another recently for while I was a stay at home Mum and did not need to pay.
My advice is to call the number and speak to one of the advisors and explain your situation. The people on the helpline are very friendly and helpful.

Jo

shazkhan111

i am 27, i have got my pension forecast and even if i continue to make NI payments till i am 65 i will still have a shrotfall if i do not make these payments.

What i need to know is that is it possible to write to them saying i was at uni so not working and will they pay on my behalf or amend their records?

seven-day-weekend

They won't pay for the time you were at Uni. If you were job hunting and claiming benefit they should credit you with them.

However, the law is about to change so that you will only need to pay for 30 years. It hasn't changed yet, which is probably why your pension forecast says there will be a shortfall (still working on 39/44 years). So you almost certainly won't need to pay it.

If you decide to pay it is around £390 for the year at todays rates.

madgamers

Depending on which year you are paying for the rates are as follows:

1996/1997 - £309.40
1997/1998 - £314.60
1998/1999 - £325.00
1999/2000 - £335.40
2000/2001 - £340.60
2001/2002 - £351.00
2002/2003 - £392.60
2003/2004 - £392.60
2004/2005 - £371.80
2005/2006 - £382.20
2006/2007 - £392.60

These rates apply to a full year of missing contributions and are acurate as of today's date. Expect 2002/2003, 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 to change after 5 April 2007.

When you where a student you don't get anything. If you where having a gap year or looking for work you get nothing unless you where claiming something like JSA for the WHOLE year. If you where claiming for part year, then expect your shortfall to be less than the amounts quoted above.

The Penisons White Paper (qualifying years to be reduced to 30) is not definate yet and I am sure this only applies to women. I work for the NI office in Newcastle and even we have not had a proper briefing on the white paper.

If you want to speak with someone at the NI office, then please call 084591 53002. If you want a call back then that can be sorted no problems.

EdInvestor

The Penisons White Paper (qualifying years to be reduced to 30) is not definate yet and I am sure this only applies to women.

No, it applies to both sexes.But women will be the main beneficiaries as it will increase the number getting BSP from around 30% to 70%. Men will not be much affected, as 87% of them already qualify for BSP under the old rules.

Idiophreak

now this might seem like a dumb question, but are we allowed to buy extra years from the past?

From what you've shown, earlier years are cheaper, so would it be possible for me to pay for the 4 years I was at uni retrospectively, rather than paying more in a couple of years?

purch

Strangely enough I received a similar letter today from the 'incompetants' at HM Revenue & Customs, claiming I owe them for 38 weeks in 2004/05.

It's complete and utter nonsense and will be easily sorted out when they re-check their records.

My advice to anyone who receives one of these 'claims' is to check everything carefully before paying cos the IR have a habit of not knowing their a#se from their elbow !!!

madgamers

The 04/05 deficiency notices are being sent out as a curteous service to customers.

Unfortunately due to many employers starting to use the internet to file their returns in this tax year it has caused a massive backlog of customers NI postings which are slowly being worked through and added to their accounts. In the mean time DN's are being sent out to customers to let them know that they have a shortfall in this year.

It is quite frankly an inconvenience for both HMRC and our customers, but one that could not have been forseen. The only way to avoid something like this happening would have been not to issue DN' for EVERYONE, but not everyone was effected by this and those who where relaying on or acurately should have had where would have been effected.

Far better to have a bunch of angry customers who are not really at a loss than to have one poor customer who was relying on something and did not get it.


As for the question about buying back earlier years. Yes it is possible to pay back as far as the 1996/1997 tax year and make them qualify. It is often better to make sure your contributions are up to date now when you can possibly afford it rather than in 30 years time when you may be out of work and can't afford it.

My advice. Phone us up and talk to someone who can look at your NI account and advise you with much more accuracy. If you PM me I can provide you with my name and I will be happy to speak with you if you ring up. I am not posting it here for fear of many many calls asking for me.

shazkhan111

so just to clarify ..... if the rule is about to change ..... then will i stop paying NI once i have made 30 years worth of contributions....?