Accountant and NI/pension

[elise2000]

Hi

Sorry for the slight overlap on another thread.

My accountant emailed a few days ago suggesting that I login into my personal tax account on gov.uk to check if my NI contributions are up to date.

I did this, and it turns out there are several incomplete years over the last decade.

I’m surprised as I have had this accountant for 15 years, so not sure this should have happened?

I let the accountant know, and asked whether it was worth topping up. Their reply was they couldn’t advise me on this matter and to contact hmrc. Is this standard?

Thanks in advance

[MaxFromage]

It's a bit of a grey area for accountants. But we (ICAEW/ACCA etc members) certainly can't answer your question or advise on pensions at all.

Why have the shortfalls arisen. Is it due to self-employment?

[elise2000]

MaxFromage said:

It's a bit of a grey area for accountants. But we (ICAEW/ACCA etc members) certainly can't answer your question or advise on pensions at all.

Why have the shortfalls arisen. Is it due to self-employment?

Thanks for clarifying.

I’m 100% self employed

[Countdown]

Were you always earning above the threshold to pay NI?

To be honest I would have expected your Accountant to have mentioned to you if you weren't and ask you if you wanted to make voluntary contributions.

He should also be able to explain why the shortfalls have happened, unless you were with another accountant previously

[MaxFromage]

It sounds like you didn't pay voluntary NI then, when your profits weren't high enough? Just make sure you are paying the £3.15 per week Class 2 NI every year. This makes sure you always qualify for a state pension.

HMRC also messed up (what a surprise) back in 2017 IIRC and some self-employed weren't registered properly for NI. Even if they try and pay it, it doesn't register.

[elise2000]

Thanks all.

I’ll try to call the future pensions line and see what they say

[Countdown]

MaxFromage said:

HMRC also messed up (what a surprise) back in 2017 IIRC and some self-employed weren't registered properly for NI. Even if they try and pay it, it doesn't register.

Apologies for thread hijack - do you know what the solution for this is?

I know a couple of people whose tax calc is showing Class 4 NICs but not Class 2. they've paid the right amounts of Class 2 but it's showing as an overpayment.

[MaxFromage]

Yes they need to reregister here so that it's correct moving forward (and then sort out the missing prior periods separately):

https://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment/se...

Click on the CFW1 link:

https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/shortforms/form/CWF1ST?...

It doesn't matter if they're already submitting self-employed returns, this is the correct link to capture the Class 2 collection.

Edited by MaxFromage on Wednesday 8th February 18:21

[Countdown]

MaxFromage said:

Yes they need to reregister here so that it's correct moving forward (and then sort out the missing prior periods separately):

https://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment/se...

Click on the CFW1 link:

https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/shortforms/form/CWF1ST?...

It doesn't matter if they're already submitting self-employed returns, this is the correct link to capture the Class 2 collection.

Edited by MaxFromage on Wednesday 8th February 18:21

Thanks Max - that's what I found when I googled but it didn't make sense that they needed to re-register when they're ALREADY registered and submitting SA returns. i was concerned they would end up being registered twice

[MaxFromage]

Yes it's confusing unless you're sure. However they aren't issuing a new UTR, so there's no way they can end up asking for two tax returns.