Qualifying Years – How much to earn?

GandalfTheTight

How much do you need to earn for 2012/13 tax year to get a qualifying year for pensions?
If the Lower Earning Limit is £107 / week

Would earning £5,564 be the minimum required?

Thanks

GTT

stinktankcynic

When I started working years ago, I started late July, and was surprised that I got a qualifying year. If you work for say six months and earn £10000, do you get a qualifying year? Also, OK had a period between jobs, maybe three weeks, I did not lose the year for that either. I also think I got three starter years, between 16 and 18.

xylophone

http://www.rights4seniors.net/content/qualifying-years
https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance/how-much-national-insurance-you-pay

Bigmoney2

Get a statement of NI contributions then you will know for sure. If you have a shortfall they will tell you how much is required to get a full years contributions.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/intro/online-statement.htm

GandalfTheTight

But that is what is confusing me:

Since 1978 a qualifying year is one in which you havepaid (or treated as having paid) contributions on earnings of at least 52 timesthe Lower Earnings Limit. For the year 2012-13 the lower earnings limit is£107/week (from £102 per week in 2011-12) so you would need to have been payingNICs on a salary of £5,564 at least.

But the other link says

You pay Class 1 NationalInsurance contributions. The rates are:
12% on your weekly earnings between £146 and £817

..need to have been paying NICs on a salary of £5,564 at least.

But if you earned £5,564 – you wouldn’t pay NIC would you?

sleepless_saver

If you earn over the lower earnings limit of £107 but below the "primary threshhold" currently £146 then you don't actually pay the NI contributions but you get them credited.

GandalfTheTight

sleepless_saver wrote: »

If you earn over the lower earnings limit of £107 but below the "primary threshhold" currently £146 then you don't actually pay the NI contributions but you get them credited.

That is what I thought – But the pension people didn’t seemto think that was right. They said phoneup the NI people who said I didn’t earn enough to pay NI !

Any idea where there is any documentation on this?


Thanks

sleepless_saver

http://taxaid.org.uk/info/national-insurance/national-insurance-for-employees-and-employers/national-insurance-thresholds

and

https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-contributions-for-employers/national-insurance-contribution-rates