Neil Newbery

Above HMRC reply not specifically relevant to my query. However I spoke to NI this morning and I now have an answer. When I spoke to them on a previous call, they told me what years would be best to pay for. According to the person I spoke to this morning, this info was recorded on their system. So when my payment for 4 years is received they will match up my 18 digit no. with the notes on their system which has a record of what years I am paying for and there is no need to specify which years I am paying for as they already have this info. As such, it is impossible to determine which years are most advatageous to pay for without speaking to NI (try calling as soon as the office opens at 8.00am for shortest waiting time) and make sure you agree on the years you are paying for as well as collecting the 18 digit number. It would be helpful if the web links made this clear somewhere.

I have the same problem. The NI office told me I had to sepcify which years I was contributing for but there is no facility to do this on any of the payment options. Someone in HMRC please help!