Self Employment and NI/State Pensions

SVaz

What does her online tax account State Pension forecast say ?? 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

bandit33 said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

bandit33 said:

My wife and I have been in a business Partnership for many years but whilst for the last 5(plus many more) my NI contributions are showing as 'Full Year' my wifes are not.....I should mention that I started recieving my State Pension in July 2025 and my wife is due hers from May 2026..is ther any reason why there should be this difference other than HMRC need to update her records. Its important as she has 30 full years otherwise.....thanks in anticipation...

Are you somehow making a link between your wife's position and the 35 years people starting to build up an NI history from 2016 need 🤔

Maybe your wife should check her actual State Pension forecast (reading it in full) to see what the facts are for her?

Not quite sure what you mean sorry but we've both been working from 1977 she has 30 full years accumulated to date...

You seem to be conflating the rules for youngsters with your wife's situation.

Checking the facts would be a much better use of your time.

Just make sure you/she reads the whole of the information.

molerat

bandit33 said:

Not quite sure what you mean sorry but we've both been working from 1977 she has 30 full years accumulated to date...

If she has been working since 1977 why has she only got 30 years, close to 50 years has passed since then.

Has she been submitting SA and paying class 2 contributions ?  Class 2 has only been a freebie since 22/23 and often needed paying on a voluntary basis with low earnings.  I believe the perceived wisdom was often that as it is a voluntary tax why pay it !

Has she actually checked her pension forecast for the definitive amounts ?

Secret2ndAccount

It's not 30 years. It's not 35 years. For people who are 50-something or 60-something it's an individual case-by-case calculation. So your wife should go to https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension   and check her forecast. Read past the first part which is how much she can potentially get. Read the next part which shows where her pension is now, vs the maximum it can get to. This will tell you/her how many more years of NI are needed. Then you can work out if you need to follow up/fight about the missing years.
If you are registered as self employed, and you complete a self assessment tax form and pay the bill, your NI shoud be taken care of. However, if her earnings were low, (say £6k) she would not have been forced to pay class 2 NI. If she chose not to pay Class 2 voluntarily, then she wouldn't have been credited with a paid up year. Maybe you declared more earnings, paid Class 2 and Class 4, and got credit for the years.
For a couple of years, (2022-24) low earners were credited with the year's Class 2 for free, but medium earners still had to pay voluntarily. Now it's back to low earners needing to pay voluntarily.
So, if she's earned >13k profit every year, and paid her tax bill, then I don't understand why the years have not been credited. If she's been a low earner, voluntary contributions might well have been necessary.
As a self employed person, it's only about £200 to pay the voluntary Class 2 to fill each gap year. So, if her forecast says she has more years to pay, and she isn't going to fill them by working before she retires, it's well worth doing, since it adds about £6/week for life in exchange for £200 once.

bandit33

Marcon said:

bandit33 said:

dunstonh said:

 but whilst for the last 5(plus many more) my NI contributions are showing as 'Full Year' my wifes are not

When was the last time your wife showed a full year?
What is your wife's entitlement so far?
Can it be improved any further (has it already hit maximum or does it indicate how many more years are required)?

2014/2015 last year showing as full..she has 30 years thus far....

What NI has she been paying since then?

None it looks like we didn't pay voluntary class 2 contributions...

bandit33

SVaz said:

What does her State Pension forecast say?
As long as it states she has full entitlement with no years to make up then it’s not a problem. 

30 years is neither here nor there.  

Her state pension forecast says the max she can get is £188.66 pw; as at 5/4/25 the figure is £182.08.....

bandit33

Many thanks for all your comments and suggestions; it's clearly a lot less simple than we thought (like everything in the UK Tax and Pension systems) but her State Pension Forecast says the Max she can achieve is £188.66 and as at 5/4/25 the figure is £182.08...

bandit33

molerat said:

bandit33 said:

Not quite sure what you mean sorry but we've both been working from 1977 she has 30 full years accumulated to date...

If she has been working since 1977 why has she only got 30 years, close to 50 years has passed since then.

Has she been submitting SA and paying class 2 contributions ?  Class 2 has only been a freebie since 22/23 and often needed paying on a voluntary basis with low earnings.  I believe the perceived wisdom was often that as it is a voluntary tax why pay it !

Has she actually checked her pension forecast for the definitive amounts ?

Hi she had some years off when she was at College and also working abroad. We have not paid class 2 contributions on a voluntary basis.... forecast is Max £188.66 and as at 5/4/25 £182.08....

QrizB

bandit33 said:

Marcon said:

bandit33 said:

dunstonh said:

 but whilst for the last 5(plus many more) my NI contributions are showing as 'Full Year' my wifes are not

When was the last time your wife showed a full year?
What is your wife's entitlement so far?
Can it be improved any further (has it already hit maximum or does it indicate how many more years are required)?

2014/2015 last year showing as full..she has 30 years thus far....

What NI has she been paying since then?

None it looks like we didn't pay voluntary class 2 contributions...

That's why she's not been accruing NI years, and is not forecast to get a full state pension.

However, if her most recent full year is 2014/15, she should be able to buy some of those missing years.

Are you certain that her forecast says:

bandit33 said:

... her State Pension Forecast says the Max she can achieve is £188.66 and as at 5/4/25 the figure is £182.08...

There should be more to the forecast than that? Something about how to improve her forecast?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

QrizB said:

bandit33 said:

Marcon said:

bandit33 said:

dunstonh said:

 but whilst for the last 5(plus many more) my NI contributions are showing as 'Full Year' my wifes are not

When was the last time your wife showed a full year?
What is your wife's entitlement so far?
Can it be improved any further (has it already hit maximum or does it indicate how many more years are required)?

2014/2015 last year showing as full..she has 30 years thus far....

What NI has she been paying since then?

None it looks like we didn't pay voluntary class 2 contributions...

That's why she's not been accruing NI years, and is not forecast to get a full state pension.

However, if her most recent full year is 2014/15, she should be able to buy some of those missing years.

Are you certain that her forecast says:

bandit33 said:

... her State Pension Forecast says the Max she can achieve is £188.66 and as at 5/4/25 the figure is £182.08...

There should be more to the forecast than that? Something about how to improve her forecast?

Agree, suspect the op hasn't done what was suggested by various posters earlier in this thread.