Should I pay vol class 2 NI contributions?

elledeetee

I am employed part time and now also freelance a bit too. I have completed my self assessment and don't earn enough to pay Class 2 NI contributions but want to check if I should pay them, voluntarily? My NI record  shows 29 yrs of full contributions, 18 years avail to contribute and 4 years (early 1990s) when I didn't contribute enough. I won't need any future maternity benefits. Am I right in thinking there's no reason to pay the vol contributions as well? Any views much appreciated, thank you!

Dazed_and_C0nfused

If you expect to work sufficient years and reach the new State Pension amount of £175.20 anyway then there is no benefit from paying them.

But as you are under transitional rules you really need to check your State Pension forecast on gov.uk first.  You must read past the likely headline of £175.20 to understand it properly.

bermudianmark

As long as you earn more than the lower earnings limit you will get credits for those years. See the following guidance.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-national-insurance-contributions/rates-and-allowances-national-insurance-contributions

molerat

Not nearly enough information provided to make useful comments.

oldbikebloke

as molerat says, not enough info
closing a qualifying years gap now is really asking us:  please guess what the future holds for me in terms of my future working life and therefore whether I will be able to reach state retirement age (which may have changed by then) with a "full" entitlement (whose requirement may have increased again by then) given I do (or don't) have other pension arrangements in place and may (or may not) be in better paid work for the remaining X years and so have no choice but to pay NI .

voluntary class 2 is the cheapest possible way to get a qualifying year. Whether it is "worth" paying such voluntary tax depends on your total circumstances, which you have not explained, particularly whether your part time employment has got you there anyway... 

elledeetee

oldbikebloke said:

as molerat says, not enough info
closing a qualifying years gap now is really asking us:  please guess what the future holds for me in terms of my future working life and therefore whether I will be able to reach state retirement age (which may have changed by then) with a "full" entitlement (whose requirement may have increased again by then) given I do (or don't) have other pension arrangements in place and may (or may not) be in better paid work for the remaining X years and so have no choice but to pay NI .

voluntary class 2 is the cheapest possible way to get a qualifying year. Whether it is "worth" paying such voluntary tax depends on your total circumstances, which you have not explained, particularly whether your part time employment has got you there anyway... 

Thanks for the response.  Let me just caveat this reply by saying I'm clueless in this area... I assume my current part time employment is sufficient because my recent contributions are shown as full? I appreciate there's no magic ball to predict the future, but I'm assuming I'll continue working at least at this level, if not more, as family circumstances change but obviously understand there's no guarantee. I do contribute to a work based pension too. I'm happy to pay the additional contributions but couldn't particularly find anything to say why it would be worth doing. If my current year is full and I pay additional voluntary ones, what happens to them? Thanks very much for your patience!

chrisbur

elledeetee said:

oldbikebloke said:

as molerat says, not enough info
closing a qualifying years gap now is really asking us:  please guess what the future holds for me in terms of my future working life and therefore whether I will be able to reach state retirement age (which may have changed by then) with a "full" entitlement (whose requirement may have increased again by then) given I do (or don't) have other pension arrangements in place and may (or may not) be in better paid work for the remaining X years and so have no choice but to pay NI .

voluntary class 2 is the cheapest possible way to get a qualifying year. Whether it is "worth" paying such voluntary tax depends on your total circumstances, which you have not explained, particularly whether your part time employment has got you there anyway... 

 If my current year is full and I pay additional voluntary ones, what happens to them? Thanks very much for your patience!

If you have earnings at or above the LEL then any voluntary contributions are just a waste of money.  If you are not sure about the LEL post details of your usual earnings.

oldbikebloke

elledeetee said:
 If my current year is full and I pay additional voluntary ones, what happens to them? Thanks very much for your patience!

then it is 101% pointless paying voluntary class 2 
the only personal benefit in having paid NI is to amass entitlement to certain state benefits.
If your PT employment pays enough that you have "earned" a qualifying year this year anyway (which you can check online via the link in post 3) then any class 2 you pay is simply you giving tax to the government and you get nothing extra in return for doing so other than the gratitude of a nation that needs every penny of tax it can get to fund its current spending 

elledeetee

chrisbur said:

elledeetee said:

oldbikebloke said:

as molerat says, not enough info
closing a qualifying years gap now is really asking us:  please guess what the future holds for me in terms of my future working life and therefore whether I will be able to reach state retirement age (which may have changed by then) with a "full" entitlement (whose requirement may have increased again by then) given I do (or don't) have other pension arrangements in place and may (or may not) be in better paid work for the remaining X years and so have no choice but to pay NI .

voluntary class 2 is the cheapest possible way to get a qualifying year. Whether it is "worth" paying such voluntary tax depends on your total circumstances, which you have not explained, particularly whether your part time employment has got you there anyway... 

 If my current year is full and I pay additional voluntary ones, what happens to them? Thanks very much for your patience!

If you have earnings at or above the LEL then any voluntary contributions are just a waste of money.  If you are not sure about the LEL post details of your usual earnings.

Yes, they are above LEL. Thanks a lot for the reply.

elledeetee

oldbikebloke said:

elledeetee said:
 If my current year is full and I pay additional voluntary ones, what happens to them? Thanks very much for your patience!

then it is 101% pointless paying voluntary class 2 
the only personal benefit in having paid NI is to amass entitlement to certain state benefits.
If your PT employment pays enough that you have "earned" a qualifying year this year anyway (which you can check online via the link in post 3) then any class 2 you pay is simply you giving tax to the government and you get nothing extra in return for doing so other than the gratitude of a nation that needs every penny of tax it can get to fund its current spending 

Thanks for all the help in clarifying.