Clarification on the extended deadline for paying voluntary NIC

Hi, The extension to the 5 April deadline for those wishing to pay voluntary NIC is welcome but could you please clarify the final sentence of the WMS. The penultimate sentence explains the impact of the extension, saying "This applies to years that would otherwise have been out of time to pay after 5 April, up to and including the 2016/17 tax year." It is followed by, "All voluntary NICs payments will be accepted at the existing 2022/23 rates until the 31 July." And it is this sentence that could be read two ways. 1. It could be read to mean that ALL payments that relate to the preceding sentence, i.e. to years 2006/07 to 2016/17 can be made at 2022/23 rates. 2. It can also be read to mean that ANY/ALL voluntary NIC payments a person would normally have to make before 5 April 2023, will remain at their current rates until 31 July. That would mean that years 2017/18 to 2019/20 stay at £824.20, while 2020/21 remains at £795.60. 2021/22 will remain at £800.80 for 1 more year and 2022/23 will remain at at £824.20 for 2 more years anyway. Clarification, as an addition to your sticky note, should help reduce the burden on your phone lines (a little). Hope this helps.

Hi,

Voluntary UK Class 3 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are paid in arrears.  The rates of UK voluntary NICs are set by the UK government and not by HMRC.

The final deadline to pay any tax year from 2006-07 to 2016-2017 will be time barred after 31 July 2023. This was an extension to the normal two year rules for voluntary payments as the new State Pension was introduced from 6 April 2016.

The current for 2022-2023 is £15.85 per week or £824.20 per annum.  

The table below shows the current rates and the deadlines for the rates and the final time limit to pay for a tax year:

Tax year	Number and rate of contributions	Amount	Payment date without penalty	Final time limit
2006-2007	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2007-2008	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2008-2009	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2009-2010	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2010-2011	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2011-2012	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2012-2013	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2013-2014	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2014-2015	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2015-2016	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2016-2017	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2017-2018	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2018-2019	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2019-2020	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	31 July 2023	31 July 2023
2020-2021	52 @ £15.30	£795.60	31 July 2023	5 April 2027
2021-2022	52 @ £15.40	£800.80	5 April 2024	5 April 2028
2022-2023	52 @ £15.85	£824.20	5 April 2025	5 April 2029

If your payment is made after the 31 July 2023 for the 2020-2021 tax year then you will be charged at the 2023-2024 rate of £17.45 or £907.40.

Thank you.
 

Thank you for such an excellent, well-structured and comprehensive reply, which makes it crystal-clear how the extension to 31 July works in relation to all currently payable years.

This thread has excellent information, especially when both HMRC and DWP are inundated with phone calls about AVL. I recently posted a thread (about state pension and NI contribution). It appears that my question may have been answered by this thread. If my NI contribution is over £824.20 for the year 2022_2023, can I consider that I have a full year of contribution for state pension purposes? (I wonder whether you, Gary could confirm since you seem to be 'au fait' with this topic?)

Hi, Thank you for posting the table. I would just like clarification on on the dates 2017/18, 2018/19, and 2019/2020. The table sates that the final time limit is 31 July 2023 but when I look at my State Pension Forecast the dates are different, 2017/18 is 2024, 2018/19 is 2025, and 2019/20 is 2026. Maybe it’s my understanding but would appreciate your feedback, Many thanks, John

[Display name amended - Admin]

Hi Johnr.walford,

Customers normally have flexibility to make voluntary national insurance contributions  (NICS) spanning a maximum of six years to fill gaps in their NI record. 

However, as part of the transitional arrangements introduced alongside the new State Pension (NSP) from 6 April 2016, men born after 5 April 1951 and women born after 5 April 1953 had until 5 April 2023 to pay voluntary contributions to make up for gaps between April 2006 and April 2016, if they’re eligible.

Due to the multi-year deadline and external coverage, this year we are seeing unprecedented levels of contact from customers considering whether to pay before the deadline.  

We know that some customers won’t get through to DWP and/or HMRC by 5 April. 

To alleviate customer concerns and make sure as many customers as want to can make payment, the government has announced it will extend this deadline for voluntary

NICs to 31 July 2023.

The extended deadline applies to
•            payments for years from April 2006 to April 2016 
•            payments for the year from April 2016 to April 2017 and
•            payments that would have been charged at a higher rate from 6 April 2023

The timescales for paying NICs for the years 2017-18 onwards are unchanged and so the dates shown on your pension forecast for these later years are correct.

Thank you. 




 

Hi Johnr.walford,

All voluntary rates of National Insurance are set by the UK Government and not by HMRC.

Please accept my apologies for any misunderstanding the table may have shown.

All tax years from 2006-2007 until 2016-2017 were extended to 31 July 2023 as they would normally have been classed as time barred.

The rates for 2017-2018 to 2019-2020 are quoted at the current 2022-23 rates but yes the final date for payment is as you are noted on your forecast but the rate will not be the same and maybe higher than at present.

Thank you.