Does it worth it to continue paying National Insurance back Contributions back in the UK?

[Morpheus 0]

Hello,

Just wondering if it is useful to continue paying the NI back home even we are planning to live in Australia? Any experience on that topic to share here please? 

[JetBlast 489]

I continued to pay mine. The increase in pension more than makes up for the additional payments. Infact, I will recover the additional payments in the first year of claiming it. Assuming I last that long!

[Marisawright 10,232]

1 hour ago, JetBlast said:

I continued to pay mine. The increase in pension more than makes up for the additional payments. Infact, I will recover the additional payments in the first year of claiming it. Assuming I last that long!

Me too

[rammygirl 2,085]

Depends what your contribution has been so far.  You can check on the state pension website. 

[Ausvisitor 771]

So at 47 because of how the new pension was brought in (and the smoothing out of the entitlement to state second pension) I now have fully paid my NI needs to get a full UK pension, no matter how much more NI I pay I will never be entitled to more state pension.

So in my case it would be completely crazy to offer to pay NI contributions, however OH isn't in the same position and we will look to pay them in the future (only needs 7 more years out of 20 possible years and we might move back so no point paying now as we end up over paying and there is no refund process)

[Tulip1 4,667]

Worth knowing (in case anyone doesn’t) that if you had a career break due to looking after kids (under 12 years) and received child benefit then that would have given you NI credits (the same as if you were working) so someone could have worked less than the minimum years and still get the full amount.  

Edited December 30, 2022 by Tulip1

[ramot 6,870]

23 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

Worth knowing (in case anyone doesn’t) that if you had a career break due to looking after kids (under 12 years) and received child benefit then that would have given you NI credits (the same as if you were working) so someone could have worked less than the minimum years and still get the full amount.  

I had 17 years NI credits, was an unexpected bonus 

[DrDougster 252]

I had no idea that a holiday job while I was at university would have been a full annual contribution vs when I was an NHS consultant. I feel completely ignorant of the system!

[Johnny Kash 153]

Agree with the consensus it is worthwhile, even if no intention of going back.

Also worth noting that its minimum of 10 years min to get anything so if your just under that definitely get yourself to at least 10 years.

If youre able to get the Class II contributions theyre ridiculously good value (about GBP12 a month) but you have to have been living and working in the UK immediately before applying so need to plan ahead.   We werent aware of this 'loophole' it was only because we ping ponged and were therefore eligible further down the line.

Most of its done via snail mail, paper forms sent to HMRC but once the direct debit is set up you can just forget it.

Like Dougster, I was amazed that some years counted when I was pushing supermarket trolleys as a 16 year old!   Its quite interesting to look back at the history of your earnings and contributions on that site actually.

 

 

[Waz05 7]

All,

We are also looking into NI contribution, I currently have 21 years worth contribution and wondered if anyone can advise on what forms you need to fill in to continue contribution if we move to Oz. 

Anyone know minimum years of contribution required? 

[Sloth 21]

11 hours ago, Waz05 said:

All,

We are also looking into NI contribution, I currently have 21 years worth contribution and wondered if anyone can advise on what forms you need to fill in to continue contribution if we move to Oz. 

Anyone know minimum years of contribution required? 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-security-abroad-ni38

[AliG 11]

Hi,

Trying to figure out if it is worth my (Aussie) wife paying the NI contributions...

She's been in UK paying NI for about 17 years.

She recently (last year) got UK citizenship and a UK passport.

We're planning to move to Aus next year with our 2 kids - no particular plans to return to UK but its a possibility depending on how we get on over there.

So a couple of questions are:

a) does the 17 years pre-citizenship count towards qualification for state pension or only the contributions post citizenship? hopefully it does in which case:

b) is it worth paying contributions for another 13 years (or more) to get to the magic 30 years? but

c) It looks like you can only top up years that you dint contribute and the system is changing as of Apr 2023 (https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/) so (if topping up 13 years makes sense) can she top up for years before she came to the UK (and before she was registered for NI) or is that too cheeky? 

I suspect we might need a chat with a financial advisor to consider this and a range of other points (which we probably don't even know about!)

[JetBlast 489]

A) - Yes
B) - Without knowing the particulars I can't be sure, but it was worth it for me.
C) - I believe this is if you get gaps in the 17 year run. I don't believe this would apply to you.

[Alan Collett 3,409]

All persons who are interested: send a private message to me if you'd like the name and contact details of my go to person on the voluntary NICs question.

Best regards.

[Morpheus 0]

Many thanks All for your replies. A quick question please: If we decided to pat the voluntary NI Contributions, Is this Tax deductible in Australia (e.g. like the super payments here?). 

[Alan Collett 3,409]

2 hours ago, Morpheus said:

Many thanks All for your replies. A quick question please: If we decided to pat the voluntary NI Contributions, Is this Tax deductible in Australia (e.g. like the super payments here?). 

No, it isn't.

Rather, you claim a tax deduction for the Undeducted Purchase Price (UPP) of the UK State Pension, equal to 8% of the pension you receive.

https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/myTax/2022/In-detail/Foreign-pensions-and-annuities/#Britishpensions

Best regards.

[Morpheus 0]

On 30/12/2022 at 20:21, Tulip1 said:

Worth knowing (in case anyone doesn’t) that if you had a career break due to looking after kids (under 12 years) and received child benefit then that would have given you NI credits (the same as if you were working) so someone could have worked less than the minimum years and still get the full amount.  

My wife was receiving child benefit before we moved here and she was not working back in the UK but now she works here. While the child benefits gives NI Credits, will this affect choosing paying voluntary NI class 2 instead of class 3?  

[Andrew from Vista Financial 638]

Hi Morpheus

Typically to be accepted for Class 2 contributions the person needed to be working immediately prior to leaving the UK.