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AIBU?

Aibu to think I don’t need to pay NI contributions voluntarily.

23 replies

Thingsthatgo · 24/06/2020 15:20

Hello. I have the child benefit in my name, and therefore get the NI credits in my name. I earned a small amount of money last year from home, enough to fill in a self assessment form, but not enough to pay tax or be over the NI threshold.
On the form it asks me if I would like to pay class 2 National insurance contribution voluntarily. It’s about £125. Is there any benefit in doing this, if I already have the credits as the person who receives child benefit?
Thank you for your help.

OP posts:
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Thingsthatgo · 24/06/2020 17:07

Hopeful bump.

OP posts:
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granny24 · 24/06/2020 17:11

Why don’t you include a note with the form asking for the pros and cons.

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Scabetty · 24/06/2020 17:15

You are covered with child benefit so you don’t have to pay but you need a minimum amount of years to get full pension (32 or thereabouts) so if you want you could top it up I guess.

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AlternativePerspective · 24/06/2020 17:16

Do you have a partner? In which case how much does he earn? Even if he’s not your children’s father if he lives with you and earns over the threshold then your child benefit will be impacted even if you’re the one who receives it.

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Flittingabout · 24/06/2020 17:16

There is potentially a huge benefit to this.

Go on Martin Lewis website and do the calculations.

I paid to make up the shortfall for 6 years and it will make the difference between skint and not in retirement!

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Scabetty · 24/06/2020 17:17

Just looked it up about minimum qualifying years and got this

You'll usually need at least 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get any State Pension. You'll need 35 qualifying years to get the full new State Pension.

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Hingeandbracket · 24/06/2020 17:18

Fairly sure the advantage to you would be an extra year credit towards pension. I had a similar situation early in my working life and decided not to pay - in the end it didn't affect me as I will end up (unless I croak before retirement) getting a full state pension because I have enough years of NI.
www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions

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NoHardSell · 24/06/2020 17:22

I think op means she has that year covered already, through cb? You would be better off buying previous years if you have missed any, which I think is what other posters are talking about. If you haven't missed any years, there's not much to be gained from paying extra. It might entitle you to mat allowance/esa though, but I don't know how much you need to pay to get that

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MaHeidsGouping · 24/06/2020 17:28

When I started off as self employed I phoned them with this exact question. I was told since I was receiving Child Benefit there was no point in paying the extra. He checked back my records incase I had missed years but I hadn't.

It does effect a few benefits if needed but the ones what I was told wouldn't apply to me anyway since my DH works fulltime.

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RandomLondoner · 24/06/2020 17:44

There is potentially a huge benefit to this

Not if she's already got a credit for the year as a result of getting child benefit...

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NettleTea · 24/06/2020 17:53

yes, you would be better off looking and working out how many years left need to be paid and if there are any missing ones that you can buy to go towards the shortfall. As others say, all the time you get child benefit this will go towards the pension and you dont get double points for paying twice in one year.

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Fleurchamp · 24/06/2020 17:54

Can you log into your HMRC account and check your NI record? Mine already shows as complete for the last tax year due to the child benefit credit. You do not need to make a payment if you have already been given the year.

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Gogogadgetarms · 24/06/2020 18:01

I don’t top mine up. I’ve got a good pension and 20 years qualifying service with HMRC so I’m not worried about it.

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FeedMeSantiago · 24/06/2020 18:08

OP - you should always get advice from DWP before you make voluntary NI contributions. It should be them rather than HMRC as DWP decide what the threshold of contributions is for State Pension.

www.gov.uk/future-pension-centre

I found all this out when my FIL took early retirement and paid voluntary contributions to top up his State Pension after advice from DWP. He originally spoke to HMRC who advised him to check with DWP first as sometimes people can pay voluntarily but not increase their pension, so always check before you pay!

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Thingsthatgo · 24/06/2020 18:28

I have something like 17 years left to contribute and I’m mid 40s. Can I buy tax credits for previous years that I missed? That seems like a strange system.

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Ponoka7 · 24/06/2020 18:29

My friend missed out of maternity allowance, for the sake of the same amount. CB NI contributions don't entitle you to some benefits.

For people who have no recourse to other benefits, it's really important to top up your NI. Unless your DH is a high earner and you'd never need benefits in your own right.

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Thingsthatgo · 24/06/2020 18:35

I’ve just had a look, I have gaps when I was studying my BA and MA, but otherwise I’ve contributed every year. I have 13 years to contribute for full pension and 23 years to do that in.
So CB will fulfill this year’s credit and presumably I don’t need to voluntarily pay?

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FeedMeSantiago · 24/06/2020 19:28

You can generally fill in gaps for the last 6 tax years only, but this depends on your age - you need to seek advice from DWP to find out which years you can fill in and whether doing so will increase your State Pension entitlement or not.

The time limit stops people buying a pension after many years of not contributing as the NI paid now is used for current pensioners, so they need a steady income stream.

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ArnoldBee · 24/06/2020 19:32

You only get ni credits from chb until the child you are claiming for is 12. So you need to some sums.

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user12699422578 · 24/06/2020 19:35

If you already have a credit for this year paying voluntary NICs won't achieve anything.

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TeacupDrama · 24/06/2020 19:39

I need another 3.5 years contributions but my child is 12 in 2 years, so once they are 12 I need to pay another 1.5 years NI, normally i earn enough to pay NI but if I didn't it would be worth paying once they are 12 but there would be no point paying this year as already covered by CB.

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ForeverBubblegum · 24/06/2020 20:12

You are covered for pension by the ni credit, but not for contribution based benefits like maternity allowance

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Humptydont · 08/04/2022 21:03

Unfortunately I’ve learned the hard way that if you are receiving National Insurance credits as the parent carer of a child under 12, then you will already be credited with a full year towards your state pension and therefore do NOT need to pay voluntary class 2 NICS for this year.

I have been paying voluntary NICS on the tiny amount I earn being self employed for the past several years. Because I don’t recieve child benefit payments as OH earns over the threshold, I had not realised I was still accruing National Insurance Credits towards full years and have needlessly been paying the voluntary contributions every year.

Annoyingly, HMRC say they do not issue refunds on voluntary National insurance contributions so I have lost out on several hundred pounds, as I’ve effectively volunteered to pay for years which were classed as full years anyway.

HMRC will not refund the money nor let me roll it forward against future years after child will turn 12.

Hope this stops anyone from making the same mistake.

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