UK Contributions For National Insurance - Help Please.

[thequietman]

I an totally in the dark about this, so any help is very much appreciated.

 

I am 50 in 4 months and recently got a letter to my address at home detailing my pension should I not pay any more money in. It is frighteningly low! I would now like to start making voluntary NI contributions for the next 17 years.

 

I am confused about the classes of insurance and what to put on the form CF83.

 

Do I tell them that I have been in Thailand for 15 years? or not?

 

If they ask where I have been or what I have been doing since my last contribution in the UK, what do I say?

 

Can I just make an application for class 2? If I do, how long do I tell them I have been teaching here?

 

Obviously I would like to make the class 2 as it is cheaper for me, but I can pay class 1 if needs be. As you can see, it is a bit of a minefield with regards to what to say. I have read they use the information in the form in other government departments like the NHS and I don't want to gamble with my health care. 

I have an address in the UK and an active UK bank account.

 

Any guidance is very much appreciated, especially from anyone that has done similar recently. Thank you in advance.

[topt]

How are you registered with HMRC - non resident for tax or still as if you reside in the UK?

 

I am non resident (told HMRC when I left) and fill in the relevant tax forms every year as still have to pay some UK tax on income from various sources. This has not caused me any issues with the doctor's surgery I am registered at but no idea if it would if I had to go into a NHS hospital for something.

 

Is your state pension going to be based on the old or new calculation? If the new presumably you are aware that there is probably no point going back beyond 2016/17 tax year to make up any missing contributions (based on your age and level of contributions) as any years made up before then are unlikely to count towards an increased state pension.

 

if you want to pay Class 2 due to the work you have been doing I would have thought you would need to be classed as non resident for tax otherwise potentially that income should have been taxed - depending on amounts/personal allowance/banding etc. 

[thequietman]

22 minutes ago, topt said:

if you want to pay Class 2 due to the work you have been doing I would have thought you would need to be classed as non resident for tax otherwise potentially that income should have been taxed - depending on amounts/personal allowance/banding etc. 

its a teaching salary, so would fall well below the tax bracket i believe.  I feel it would be easier just to say that I have been living in the UK all this time and have just been drifting. However, that would leave me with not being able to pay class 2.

This is my dilema, i don't want to say the wrong thing and get myself into bother that i could have avoided, hence me asking on here. Thanks for your input.

[thequietman]

26 minutes ago, topt said:

if you reside in the UK

Never informed anyone that I left.

[topt]

1 hour ago, thequietman said:

Never informed anyone that I left.

Remember that the CF83 (part of NI38 with all the notes) is about paying additional NICS from abroad......

You need to make a decision on which way you want to go.

I can see your dilemma.

Also they keep talking about abolishing Class 2 but have deferred that decision at the moment.  

[thequietman]

15 minutes ago, topt said:

Remember that the CF83 (part of NI38 with all the notes) is about paying additional NICS from abroad......

You need to make a decision on which way you want to go.

If I declared that I was self employed, would I have to prove that, if I state that I am residing in the UK? I wouldn't be claiming any benefits, but would I have to provide tax payments or declarations?

It looks like it is pointless to pay any back payments before 2017, so I just want to pay them for now for the next 17 years. If I pay from now until 67, I will get 600 a month which is still rubbish, but it would act as a top up to my current savings which grow every year.

 

But how do I get to pay the class 2 payments and keep my NHS?

[topt]

7 minutes ago, thequietman said:

If I declared that I was self employed, would I have to prove that, if I state that I am residing in the UK? I wouldn't be claiming any benefits, but would I have to provide tax payments or declarations?

It looks like it is pointless to pay any back payments before 2017, so I just want to pay them for now for the next 17 years. If I pay from now until 67, I will get 600 a month which is still rubbish, but it would act as a top up to my current savings which grow every year.

 

But how do I get to pay the class 2 payments and keep my NHS?

Prove self employment - I should think definitely yes for the UK and probably also for abroad - NI38 mentions something about contracts from memory.

 

The issue about NHS is one you have to take a judgement on. Posters on here are divided on whether it is an issue and how they would know at the moment but in the future I would suggest that they are only more likely to become joined up. There have been a no. of threads where this has been debated. 

[steve187]

17 minutes ago, thequietman said:

If I declared that I was self employed, would I have to prove that, if I state that I am residing in the UK? I wouldn't be claiming any benefits, but would I have to provide tax payments or declarations?

It looks like it is pointless to pay any back payments before 2017, so I just want to pay them for now for the next 17 years. If I pay from now until 67, I will get 600 a month which is still rubbish, but it would act as a top up to my current savings which grow every year.

 

But how do I get to pay the class 2 payments and keep my NHS?

class 1 is for people employed in the UK, class 2 at less than £3.00 a week is for self employed people in the UK, but i believe some pay class 2 whilst in Thailand, as posted above class 2 is to be phased out at some time, but it keeps getting defered, class 3 is voluntary stamp at £16 ish a week, class 4 is for self employed people in the UK eaning over £8000 a year.

 

the maximum pension in the UK under the new scheme is £700 ish per month, so at £600 a month your somewhere near the top rate

[thequietman]

1 hour ago, steve187 said:

class 1 is for people employed in the UK, class 2 at less than £3.00 a week is for self employed people in the UK, but i believe some pay class 2 whilst in Thailand, as posted above class 2 is to be phased out at some time, but it keeps getting defered, class 3 is voluntary stamp at £16 ish a week, class 4 is for self employed people in the UK eaning over £8000 a year.

 

the maximum pension in the UK under the new scheme is £700 ish per month, so at £600 a month your somewhere near the top rate

I am working here and can show a contract, so do I tell them I left the UK last year, May and then hopefully get class 2 ?? When I go home to visit, I can register for an appointment with the doctor to keep my medical.

[naboo]

Lots of misinformation on this thread.

 

2 years ago, I back paid 8 years of NI contributions at Class 2 rates (about GBP150/year). I am working here, in a similar position to the OP.

 

OP, first, if you haven't already, register on the gov.uk website to find out your NI contributions history. Given what you have said, there are no contributions in the last 15 years.

 

If you have been living overseas and working the entire time, you are entitled to pay Class 2 payments only. How long for, they will decide. Fill in the CF83 form stating that you have been living overseas for 15 years and have been working the entire time.

 

If you tell them you have been living overseas and not working, or if you tell them you have been living in the UK, they will make you pay Class 2 and Class 3 - about GBP800/year.

 

Note - the rules changed this last April. You have until March 2021 to make the back-payments at the Class 2 only rate.

 

When you send the CF83, they will take a long time to respond. It was nearly 4 months for me. I sent my form to the UK and had a family member send it from there to HMRC. They have a dedicated team working for people working overseas, but they're busy. They will reply via post.

 

When they reply, you need to call them to explain what you want to do - pay as many years as you can. They will discuss with you the implications, is it the right thing for you to do, but they won't give you an opinion. You need to decide.

 

You then call another number and tell them you are going to pay and what for. They will tell you how to pay.

 

I am going to pay up until April 2019. Beyond that the cost of GBP800/year I believe is better invested elsewhere. I spoke to HRMC in March about this. They told me I could pay the last two years (unpaid years since I last paid) without filling in another CF83.

 

Do it. And do it today/tomorrow/this week. Pay all the years you can at about GBP150/year.

 

[topt]

13 hours ago, naboo said:

Lots of misinformation on this thread.

Lots? if so please let us know specifically (from the information provided) so we can correct any misunderstandings we may have?

 

And yes I agree if I was in the OPs position I would do that but he has fears about his current free access to the NHS which was one of his initial questions.