Payment schedule for voluntary NI top-up contribs?

itm2

I retired from my main employment last year (aged 53), but am several years short of the 35 years of NI contribs required for a full state pension. I shall be doing a little work on a self-employed basis, and making voluntary NI contribs to make up for the missing years.

My question is: what is the normal schedule for making top-up NI contributions under these circumstances - i.e. would these normally be paid at the end of the tax year, or do regular monthly contribs need to be made?

jamesd

See the HMRC page on voluntary NI contributions. The class 2 self-employed type are cheapest and since you will be self-employed those are what you should use.

itm2

jamesd wrote: »

See the HMRC page on voluntary NI contributions. The class 2 self-employed type are cheapest and since you will be self-employed those are what you should use.

Thanks. I'd already looked at the HMRC website but it wasn't clear (to me anyway) what the situation was when your self-employed earnings were below the tax threshold. In these cases presumably there would be no demands for tax & NI payments from HMRC, and hence no confirmation of the exact amount due, so it wasn't clear whether the monthly or July/January payment options would still apply.

For example, would I need to complete a self-assessment return at the end of each earnings year, indicate that I wanted to pay voluntary Class 2 contributions, and hope that the online return facility calculates the amount that I should pay and confirms the payment schedule options?

jamesd

I suggest that you phone the HMRC Newly Self-Employed Helpline and get them to set things up that way.