Class 2 contributions clarification

MoneySaver65536

My stepdad has been self-employed for most of his working life, since well before 2006, and he's reaching retirement age (66) in 2025, before the end of the tax year. We can see on his gov.uk NI record that he's paid class 4 contributions going back to the year dot, so his profits were definitely over the £11,908 threshold every year. But he's very short on class 2 contributions. He's called the government pensions helpline multiple times and has been given conflicting guidance - a few months ago he was told he can top up class 2 contributions from 2006 onwards, but then a couple of weeks ago he was told that he can only top up class 2 from 2016 onwards and has to pay the higher rate for the 2006-2015 period. From what I've read it seems like what he was told on the first call is correct.

Time is quickly running out so he is getting quite stressed about this. This is definitely something he wants to do even if he has to pay the higher rate, he just doesn't want to pay more than he needs to. How can I help him set the record straight with HMRC and get this resolved? Is there a HMRC policy I can refer to if they try to get him to pay the higher rate again?

molerat

There is a bit of a quirk in that for some years if you were due to pay compulsory class 2 but did not or were not registered to be exempt from paying class 2 then you cannot pay voluntary class 2 for those years (or pay the backdated compulsory class 2).  That may be the case here.  HMRC are the ones that deal with this.