EU employment national insurance deductions vs ongoing voluntary class 2 contributions

Hello, I am currently living and employed in an EU country. My employment in the EU country started in March '22, and a national insurance contribution is deducted from my salary there. The work contract is ongoing and I have no intentions to return to the UK permanently at this time. The employer is a local company without a UK office. Prior to the tax year 22-23 I was self employed in the UK, and I was ordinarily resident in the UK prior to February '22. However, my self employed business in the UK is still ongoing, as I may do occasional work in the UK in the future. Thus far, I have not done so since starting my employment in the EU country. I still have the option to pay voluntary class 2 UK national insurance, and am completing the self employed pages as part of my UK tax return. Based on this situation I have the following questions: Is there a form I need to complete in order for these foreign national insurance payments to be taken into account as credit (qualifying years) towards my UK state pension, and to maintain my access to UK state benefits should I return? Is there any advantage to my continuing to make voluntary class 2 contributions in the UK at the same time as paying national insurance in the EU country? Many thanks in advance!

Hi Kerma,

Unfortunately, without looking at your personal records, I am unable to provide you with a definite answer. 
However, I can confirm that the National Insurance contributions that you are paying in the EU cannot be credited to your UK records for pension or benefit purposes.
With regards to your self-employment in the UK, you would need to provide HMRC with further information for us to confirm if you should be paying class 2 National Insurance contributions in the UK. You can write to us at the following address – 

PT Operations North East England
HM Revenue and Customs,
BX9 1AN

Please include the following details in your letter
•    Your full name
•    Your National Insurance number 
•    Your date of birth
•    Your most recent UK address
•    Your address abroad
•    The type of work you do
•    Your business name and address - both UK and abroad
•    Where the contract is held
•    How often you work in the UK
•    Your normal working pattern (the days, weeks or months you regularly work)

Thank you.

 

Hi, Thanks for the reply. I am a bit confused by this: "However, I can confirm that the National Insurance contributions that you are paying in the EU cannot be credited to your UK records for pension or benefit purposes." I have read that 'pension aggregation' with EU member states had been negotiated to continue after Brexit. Is that not the case? Or is does it mean something different than I understand? I have found it difficult to get accurate information about this on the internet. If there is no pension aggregation with EU member states, does that mean I would then be funding two separate state pensions (the UK and EU member state) with my national insurance payments to both countries? Would I then be able to receive them both independently upon retirement (assuming I had met the qualifying number of years for both)? Many thanks.

Hi Kerma,

Sorry for any confusion.
As previously stated without looking at your personal records, I am unable to provide you with a definitive answer.
However, when you pay National Insurance contributions in an EU country, the contributions you pay cannot be transferred to the UK, but they may be taken
into account for your UK State Pension.
The pension service will take these into account when you make your claim for state pension.
If you have any further queries about your pension, you will need to speak to the Department for Work and Pension.
You can contact them on +44 (0) 191 218 7777, lines are open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday.
With regards to paying National Insurance contributions in two different countries, you would need to write to HMRC for an insurability decision as per our previous reply.

Thank you.