Some self-employed taxpayers who made voluntary class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for 2022/23 have received an unexpected refund from HMRC: this may have been an error.
What is the issue?
- Voluntary contributions are usually made to enable a taxpayer to secure their entitlement to the State pension, Maternity allowance and employment and support allowance.
- Taxpayers who have received refunds may now find a gap in their National Insurance (NI) records which could impact their entitlement to these allowances.
- The refunds appear to have occurred from an HMRC system error. It has failed to identify that voluntary class 2 NI contributions had been made before the 31 January 2024 deadline (2022/23) causing them to be rejected.
What should you do?
- HMRC are currently working on resolving the matter.
- Unfortunately, the New digital NI tool is not available to self-employed individuals.
- In the meantime, the only way to resolve the issue is for taxpayers to contact the NI contributions office to obtain a payment reference and make a payment using the reference.
Useful guides on this topic
HMRC launches digital National Insurance payment service
On 29 April 2024, HMRC introduced a new digital service, enabling taxpayers to conveniently check their State Pension forecast and make voluntary contributions to address gaps in their National Insurance (NI) record.
State benefits: Tax-free and taxable
What state benefits are taxable? What state benefits are tax-free?
Pension: Check National Insurance records by 5 April 2025
The government has extended the voluntary National Insurance contribution deadline again, from 31 July 2023 to 5 April 2025. This gives taxpayers more time to fill gaps in their records to maximise their future State Pension benefits.
State Pension Age
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Personal Tax Account
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National Insurance: Rates
What are the current National Insurance rates? What rates will apply to next year?
National Insurance: What's the maximum payable?
How are National Insurance Contributions (NICs) limited? What is the maximum payable? What different rules apply to employment and self-employment income?
External link
Check your State Pension forecast
