How do you pay voluntary NI Contributions...? 11 January at 4:14PM in Pensions, annuities & retirement planning 7 replies 160 views

DismayedOfUK

I've been told I need to pay Voluntary NI Contributions because I have a gap in payments and that'll affect my pension unless I fill it in. To pay it, I apparently need to submit a self-assessment tax return for HMRC for 2021/22 before the end of this month. The HMRC site says I don't have to do one but I thought I could fill one out anyway and there'd be a box where I just enter the amount of NI I need to pay. My problem is that I can't progress past the screen that asks what adjustments need to be made to tax owed or paid because there isn't any owing and you can't enter 0 in the box. So I can't complete the return and therefore can't pay the NI. The 31st is rapidly approaching.  I asked an accountant but they didn't reply. Can anyone point me in the right direction or tell me what I need to do?

p00hsticks

Are you self employed ?

Is it the last year you want to pay ?

Marcon

Have you read through this: https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions

If you are only looking to pay for the current or previous year, then you've still got plenty of time.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

DismayedOfUK said:

I've been told I need to pay Voluntary NI Contributions because I have a gap in payments and that'll affect my pension unless I fill it in. To pay it, I apparently need to submit a self-assessment tax return for HMRC for 2021/22 before the end of this month. The HMRC site says I don't have to do one but I thought I could fill one out anyway and there'd be a box where I just enter the amount of NI I need to pay. My problem is that I can't progress past the screen that asks what adjustments need to be made to tax owed or paid because there isn't any owing and you can't enter 0 in the box. So I can't complete the return and therefore can't pay the NI. The 31st is rapidly approaching.  I asked an accountant but they didn't reply. Can anyone point me in the right direction or tell me what I need to do?

Why do you think a Self Assessment return is necessary?

DismayedOfUK

p00hsticks said:

Are you self employed ?

Is it the last year you want to pay ?

I was living overseas so have a few years payments missing.  My financial adviser told me I need to make a payment to fill in the gap. She spoke to an accountant who said I should do a self assessment return. So I need to make one lump sum payment so I can fill the gap. 

DismayedOfUK

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

DismayedOfUK said:

I've been told I need to pay Voluntary NI Contributions because I have a gap in payments and that'll affect my pension unless I fill it in. To pay it, I apparently need to submit a self-assessment tax return for HMRC for 2021/22 before the end of this month. The HMRC site says I don't have to do one but I thought I could fill one out anyway and there'd be a box where I just enter the amount of NI I need to pay. My problem is that I can't progress past the screen that asks what adjustments need to be made to tax owed or paid because there isn't any owing and you can't enter 0 in the box. So I can't complete the return and therefore can't pay the NI. The 31st is rapidly approaching.  I asked an accountant but they didn't reply. Can anyone point me in the right direction or tell me what I need to do?

Why do you think a Self Assessment return is necessary?

Only because an accountant told my financial advisor that I should do one to pay a gap in contributions that came about by my working overseas for a bit. I'm back now and starting a new company this year. 

p00hsticks

DismayedOfUK said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

DismayedOfUK said:

I've been told I need to pay Voluntary NI Contributions because I have a gap in payments and that'll affect my pension unless I fill it in. To pay it, I apparently need to submit a self-assessment tax return for HMRC for 2021/22 before the end of this month. The HMRC site says I don't have to do one but I thought I could fill one out anyway and there'd be a box where I just enter the amount of NI I need to pay. My problem is that I can't progress past the screen that asks what adjustments need to be made to tax owed or paid because there isn't any owing and you can't enter 0 in the box. So I can't complete the return and therefore can't pay the NI. The 31st is rapidly approaching.  I asked an accountant but they didn't reply. Can anyone point me in the right direction or tell me what I need to do?

Why do you think a Self Assessment return is necessary?

Only because an accountant told my financial advisor that I should do one to pay a gap in contributions that came about by my working overseas for a bit. I'm back now and starting a new company this year. 

So in what years are the gaps ?

Do you think you'll be entitled to pay at the cheaper Class 2 rate or Class 3 ?

See here for details - note that the deadlines described on that page (that yo ucan only go back six years) are the usual ones but, following the intriduction of the new State Pension there has been a temprary extension so that, until the start of April this year you can pay back as far as 2006. However years prior to 2016 may or may not boost your pension

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/deadlines

Have you got a State Pension forecast ?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

What does it say ?

Depending on your record, gaps in your NI record may not necessarily resutl in getting less pension.

How far away from State Pension Age are you ?

bostonerimus

What is your NI record. Get that through the UK gov gateway and they you can see if you really need to make the payments. FYI it's easy to log on, I can see my contributions record way back into the 1970s. So you should be able to do it right now.