BobJ79

The guidance you referred to only discusses limits on tax free (i.e. pre tax) contributions. I am asking about gross (i.e. post tax) contributions. Since the article gives no guidance on that, I am asking for guidance here. I would greatly appreciate an answer to the specific question posed. Many thanks.

I am am registered for self assessment, but I am not self-employed. I earn no income from work. I have £500k invested in ETFs, which I select myself and buy on a brokerage platform. Am I eligible to pay voluntary class 2 NICs? Many thanks.

Hi HMRC Admin 32 I have a US-based IRA pension, and am tax resident in the UK. Your advice above is of interest to me. You've stated that "UK/US citizens resident in the UK are taxable on their IRA interest in the UK." I note that you say interest and not income - this is from your first reply. I interpret this to mean that a US IRA is essentially treated like a general investment account by HMRC (i.e. interest and dividends, even within an accumulating ETF within the IRA wrapper, are taxable), instead of being treated like a SIPP (where interest and dividends are not taxed). Is that correct? However, Article 18, Section 1 of the UK/US Double Taxation Treaty states: "Where an individual who is a resident of a Contracting State is a member or beneficiary of, or participant in, a pension scheme established in the other Contracting State, income earned by the pension scheme may be taxed as income of that individual only when, and, subject to paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 17 (Pensions, Social Security, Annuities, Alimony, and Child Support) of this Convention, to the extent that, it is paid to, or for the benefit of, that individual from the pension scheme (and not transferred to another pension scheme)." My interpretation of this is that any income (i.e. interest and dividends) earned within a US pension can only be taxed as income in the UK when the money is paid out of the pension. That is to say that HMRC should treat a US pension like a UK SIPP, and let interest and dividends within the pension roll-up free of income tax, until such time as the funds are withdrawn. As I hope is clear, my understanding of your comment and of the tax treaty are in direct contradiction. Please can you help me understand which of these interpretations is correct? I.e. is a US pension effectively treated like a UK SIPP, or like a general investment account, in terms of how interest and dividends earned within the pension wrapper are taxed? Many thanks.

Just bumping this, as I would like to make a contribution to my pension as soon as possible. I do not have any unused allowances to carry forward.

I have just registered my son, who is 5, for child benefits. I understand the benefit payments can only be backdated by 3 months. However, can the Child Benefit Class 3 credits for my state pension be backdated? I currently have no state pension credits for the preceding years. We were resident in the country and I was caring for him.

My pensionable income is £0, and my other income is £70k. I know that the maximum net amount that I can pay into my SIPP and receive a basic rate tax rebate on is £2880. But can I also put a lump sum of £100k gross, with no tax relief, in there if I want? What is the maximum amount that I can put in, gross?

HMRC advice on who can pay voluntary class 2 NICs (https://www.gov.uk/pay-class-2-national-insurance) mentions the following: “a person who makes investments - but not as a business and without getting a fee or commission” Further advice (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/national-insurance-manual/nim74250) says that a Tier 2 investor can pay voluntary class 2 NICs, and classes this person as: “a person with a substantial undertaking in … investment related activities” but without doing so as part of a trade, profession, or vocation. So I am now trying to understand what would qualify as a substantial undertaking in investment related activities. Does this relate to: - The total value of all investments? - The number of different equities held? - The number of trades in a given time period? - The amount of time spent researching investments? - The amount of money drawn down from the investments in a given time period? Do funds and trades in tax-efficient wrappers such as ISAs and SIPPs count towards this? Does the activity of an agent (e.g. an investment professional, or robo-advisor firm) on my behalf count towards this? Does the activity of a manager of an actively managed ETF I invest in count towards this? For each of the following people, do their investment activities constitute a substantial undertaking in investment related activities?: Person A: Has £100k total investments across ISAs and SIPPs, passively invested in ETFs, via a robo-adviser platform. Person B: Has £500k total investments, which they invest in stocks/ETFs, and invest a further £1k per month in a set portfolio of stocks/ETFs. Person C: Has £2m total investments, which they invest in stocks/ETFs, tweaking their portfolio on average once every quarter, and draw down about £100k per year in interest, dividends and equity sales. Any help on this matter would be gratefully appreciated.