Class 2 National Insurance unpaid

hotrocks68

Hi all.......

My only brother has returned to England after living abroad for 3 years.
Prior to going he was self employed for 13 years and never pain any class 2 national insurance,saying he assumed it was deducted from his tax rebate!
He never recieved any bills or reminders whatsoever.
He has been offered a part-time job,PAYE,but he's worried that he will be on the radar so to speak and be perused for 13 years of class 2 NI.
I have tried telling him,rightly or wrongly,that he will only at worst be perused for the past 6 years,3 of which he was living abroad and that he will probably have to pay for 3 years.....is that right?
Any advice will be appreciated as he is worried sick.
Kind regards.

epitome

Class 2 is cheap as chips, they can only enforce a back pay of 6 years, and only the last 6 years will go towards his pension. if they ask him to pay back 13 years, it would be entirely voluntary as there would be nothing they could do beyond 6 years and the amounts beyond 6 years would not go towards his pension even if they demanded it be paid.

You are right that whilst he was not in UK he would not have to pay, but consider that he needs 30 years when he retires. If you don't think he will be able to make up 30 years then paying those 6 might be a good idea.

It was only £2 - £2.50 per week it's not going to be a lot.

hotrocks68

Epitome.....thankyou,

From 1982 to 1996 he woeked for the Royal Mail and was PAYE and his NI was paid.
So from 1996 to march 2009 he was self-employed.
So at 46 returning to work now,having paid for 14 years he surely has time to meet the 30 year requirement?
Therefore if/when the debt arises would it be fair to assume he would only be forced to pay from 2006-2009,being that the following 3 years he lived abroad?

Thanks again.

Anubis_2

They may bill for the whole amount, there are no guarantees but what where his earnings? If he can prove low earnings he may be exempt.

Additionally IF he has failed to register self employed for NIC purposes he may have a penalty to pay.

See here for shortfalls http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/volcontr/whentop-up.htm#1

hotrocks68

He did'nt register apparently and realises there could be a penalty if/when it comes to light.
Its now damage limitation and he hopes 'epitome' was right to suggest that it will only be backdated 6 years,3 of which of course he was living abroad,and thus there will only be 3 years to pay.
Hopefully.And if i've read it correctly.

:cool:

themull1

hotrocks68 wrote: »

He did'nt register apparently and realises there could be a penalty if/when it comes to light.
Its now damage limitation and he hopes 'epitome' was right to suggest that it will only be backdated 6 years,3 of which of course he was living abroad,and thus there will only be 3 years to pay.
Hopefully.And if i've read it correctly.

:cool:

Thats correct.

themull1

If he had low earnings when he was self employed, there will be no penalty to pay.

epitome

Also if he was registered as self employed and filing tax returns then he would have an argument against the penalty for not paying NI, namely that they should have sent him demands for payment of NI, they can't have one arm of the department aware that he is self employed and another arm of the same department unaware that he is self employed. HMRC have to take some responsibility for this failure.

They may ask him to pay the full 13 years but in reality they can only persue tha last 6, this is what I have read on the subject from people more informed than myself.

Sorry for late reply