How to pay voluntary Class 2 contributions?

VXman

I am retired on a teachers pension, another 6 years to go until state retirement age. I am a few years short of contributions due to time at uni, time abroad and now not working full time.

I do some exam invigilating at a local secondary school on a zero hour contract and some GCSE marking which is obviously just for a short period each year. No NI is taken from my earnings.

HMRC state people in this type of work are entitled to pay class 2 contribution even if they are PAYE and 'employed'.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/national-insurance-manual/nim74100

I spoke to someone at future pension centre who registered me for self assessment and suggested I would be invited to pay class 2 contributions when I did the self assessment. 

I have completed the self assessment but at no point was there an opportunity to request to pay. 

Has anyone had experience in this type of area. How should I proceed to get these contributions paid and on my record?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

VXman said:

I am retired on a teachers pension, another 6 years to go until state retirement age. I am a few years short of contributions due to time at uni, time abroad and now not working full time.

I do some exam invigilating at a local secondary school on a zero hour contract and some GCSE marking which is obviously just for a short period each year. No NI is taken from my earnings.

HMRC state people in this type of work are entitled to pay class 2 contribution even if they are PAYE and 'employed'.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/national-insurance-manual/nim74100

I spoke to someone at future pension centre who registered me for self assessment and suggested I would be invited to pay class 2 contributions when I did the self assessment. 

I have completed the self assessment but at no point was there an opportunity to request to pay. 

Has anyone had experience in this type of area. How should I proceed to get these contributions paid and on my record?

How did you deal with this income on your Self Assessment return?

Typically the option to pay Class 2 NI is prompted by indicating you have been self employed, even if you are selecting options to say no self employment page is needed as turnover does not exceed £1,000 and you have opted to claim the Trading Allowance instead of actual expenses.

VXman

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

How did you deal with this income on your Self Assessment return?

Typically the option to pay Class 2 NI is prompted by indicating you have been self employed, even if you are selecting options to say no self employment page is needed as turnover does not exceed £1,000 and you have opted to claim the Trading Allowance instead of actual expenses.

This is where the problem kicks in I think. I did initially select self employed but realised it didn't work. I have 3 incomes that tax are paid on. Teachers pension, my exam marking EMPLOYMENT and my Invigilating EMPLOYMENT. The key word being employment. I am paid by these employers through their pay roll and taxed PAYE so I cannot enter it a self employed. I don't have any self employed income. TBH self assessment is not really necessary with my straightforward situation. It was the lady at Future Pensions who registered me for self assessment as she thought this was the way to allow me to pay NI.

I don't understand why HMRC class examiners/invigilators as entitled to pay class 2 but they do and I would like to take advantage of this. However there is much confusion about how this works - even with people at HMRC/Future pensions service.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Try posting your question here, they should give a definitive answer.

https://community.hmrc.gov.uk/customerforums/sa

pinnks

I am not sure why you say that FPC set you up for SA as that is an HMRC issues, not a DWP one.  I am aware of the Class 2 issue for invigilators but am not sure how you pay the Class 2 as you are not self-employed for income tax purposes.  I would call HMRC NI team and seek their advice. 

katekav

I have a similar query and spent a long time on the phone to HMRC NI team today, but didn't get it resolved....was just referred back to online pages on Class 2 contributions.  You have to wait a long time to be answered (over 1 hr today) so that's disappointing. 
I want to pay Class 2 contributions for previous years, to top up my state pension. Like you , I wasn't invited to pay on my self assessment forms , and am now trying to remedy that. But the only help and advice seems to be for those that want to top up Class 3 contributions.  If anyone has managed to top up Class 2 ones, can you let me know? Thanks

VXman

pinnks said:

I am not sure why you say that FPC set you up for SA as that is an HMRC issues, not a DWP one.  I am aware of the Class 2 issue for invigilators but am not sure how you pay the Class 2 as you are not self-employed for income tax purposes.  I would call HMRC NI team and seek their advice. 

I might be wrong on who said that. It was a while ago and I had phone various people. Certainly someone told me that on the phone and it was set up, I was given a Self Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and it is on my HMRC account online.

Problem with ringing them is they don't really know/understand. It is very much hit and miss with the knowledge of the individual advisor on the phone - if you have a hour or two to wait for the phone to be answered.

pinnks

Have a look at Pay Class 2 National Insurance if you do not pay through Self Assessment: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).  Seems quite clear that SA is not the way to go...

VXman

pinnks said:

Have a look at Pay Class 2 National Insurance if you do not pay through Self Assessment: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).  Seems quite clear that SA is not the way to go...

Ah, Haven't seen that page before. It says they will contact me in October - however I am not sure how they know I  am invigilator/exam marker. I will wait and see and then contact them. Again!!!  Thanks for that link.