SP and NI Contributions this year

tigerspill

Hi folks,

I am trying to understand if I have made enough NI contributions in April and May this year to qualify for a full year of SP.

I was working in April - leaving at 30th with a redundancy package that included an element of PILON on which I paid NI.

I am not 100% sure what information I need to give here to help answer the question.

In May, my employee contribution was £670.72 and the total for the year is £817.56. So April was £146.84.

I dont plan to work in the remainder of this year, so if this is not enough for a full year SP, can I top this up? If so, I believe the cost of a voluntary payment for a year is around £740ish - would I then pay some portion of this for the top up? And if so, how would I work that out?

Sorry for all the questions.

TIA

xylophone

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71234294#Comment_71234294

tigerspill

xylophone wrote: »

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71234294#Comment_71234294

Thanks for this.

So as far as I can work out, the LEL for 19/20 is £6136.

My gross earnings (as regards NI - gross pay for April and PILON for May) were £1942 and £17015.
I believe May is capped at the UEL which I think is £4167 per month.

So I think this means I have a gross income as far as this is concerned of £6109 (£1942 + £4167).

So if this is right, I am £58 short for this year. Is this correct from the numbers I have given?

Does this mean I will just need to voluntary pay a few pounds (a fraction of the yearly purchase of around £740ish - £57 is less than 1% of the needed £6136) to make this up to a full year? Maybe under 1% of the £740 = £7.

Have I got this right?

Thanks

bluenose1

PILON has tax and NI deductions.
Therefore if your PILON in May of £17,015 includes this you have earned more than enough.

tigerspill

bluenose1 wrote: »

PILON has tax and NI deductions.
Therefore if your PILON in May of £17,015 includes this you have earned more than enough.

But as this was paid in a single month, is this not capped at the UEL?

xylophone

The UEL does act as a cap.

See post 18

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5774173/earning-ni-qualifying-years-working-part-of-the-year&highlight=

tigerspill

xylophone wrote: »

The UEL does act as a cap.

See post 18

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5774173/earning-ni-qualifying-years-working-part-of-the-year&highlight=

Thanks for confirming.

So with this I will be a little short.

So how is the cost apportioned when I go to top this year up to be a full year?

UPDATE
Looking at https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/the-state-pension/voluntary-ni-contributions
It looks like I may need to but one week at £15. Does this sound right?

Cost of voluntary NICs
The cost depends on the year you want to pay for. The cost for the 2019/20 tax year is:
£15.00 a week for Class 3 voluntary NICs
£3.00 a week for Class 2 voluntary NICs