May 2022
This blog article is for people who wish to find out if they have missing gaps in their qualifying years for state pension and wish to pay voluntary pension contributions to HMRC.
Here are the steps:
- Find out if you have missing gaps in your qualifying years for state pension via:
a. Your personal tax account, or
b. Calling Future Pension Centre helpline on 0800 731 0181
- This is a free advice service. You will be advised regarding any information you need to know from your account (e.g. how many years you contributed to your state pension, how many years you still need to contribute to qualify for full state pension, if you have any gaps and how to pay for the gaps etc. They also advise whether it is recommended to fill the gaps according to your circumstances)
2. If you wish to pay for any gaps, you need to call HMRC on 0300 200 3500.
They will provide you with details of HMRC’s account no, sort code and a 18 digit reference number for the payment. If making an online payment , it may reach in about 24 hours, however it will show in you HMRC account in about 6 weeks. You need to check after six weeks to ensure gap is resolved.
September 2023
Incase a self-employed pays Class 2 national insurance voluntary via his Self assessment return. They need to pay it before 31st Jan otherwise HMRC’s system wipes it off, this will result in a NI gap for this year. To rectify this gap they will need to follow point 2 above.
May 2024
Government has launched a new online service for people to check if paying voluntary NICs will improve their pensions. You can also get the payment reference from this service avoid the telephone call mentioned above.
Roy Accountants 