ICAS ICAS logo

Quicklinks

  1. About Us

    Find out about who we are and what we do here at ICAS.

  2. Find a CA

    Search our directory of individual CAs and Member organisations by name, location and professional criteria.

  3. CA Magazine

    View the latest issues of the dedicated magazine for ICAS Chartered Accountants.

  4. Contact Us

    Get in touch with ICAS by phone, email or post, with dedicated contacts for Members, Students and firms.

Login
  • Annual renewal
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Find a CA
  1. About us
    1. Governance
  2. Members
    1. Become a member
    2. Newly qualified
    3. Manage my membership
    4. Benefits of membership
    5. Careers support
    6. Mentoring
    7. CA Wellbeing
    8. More for Members
    9. Area networks
    10. International communities
    11. Get involved
    12. Top Young CAs
    13. Career breaks
    14. ICAS podcast
    15. Newly admitted members 2022
    16. Newly admitted members 2023
  3. CA Students
    1. Student information
    2. Student resources
    3. Learning requirements
    4. Learning updates
    5. Learning blog
    6. Totum Pro | Student discount card
    7. CA Student wellbeing
  4. Become a CA
    1. How to become a CA
    2. Routes to becoming a CA
    3. CA Stories
    4. Find a training agreement
    5. Why become a CA
    6. Qualification information
    7. University exemptions
  5. Employers
    1. Become an Authorised Training Office
    2. Resources for Authorised Training Offices
    3. Professional entry
    4. Apprenticeships
  6. Find a CA
  7. ICAS events
    1. CA Summit
  8. CA magazine
  9. Insight
    1. Finance + Trust
    2. Finance + Technology
    3. Finance + EDI
    4. Finance + Mental Fitness
    5. Finance + Leadership
    6. Finance + Sustainability
  10. Professional resources
    1. Anti-money laundering
    2. Audit and assurance
    3. Brexit
    4. Business and governance
    5. Charities
    6. Coronavirus
    7. Corporate and financial reporting
    8. Cyber security
    9. Ethics
    10. Insolvency
    11. ICAS Research
    12. Pensions
    13. Practice
    14. Public sector
    15. Sustainability
    16. Tax
  11. CPD - professional development
    1. CPD courses and qualifications
    2. CPD news and updates
    3. CPD support and advice
  12. Regulation
    1. Complaints and sanctions
    2. Regulatory authorisations
    3. Guidance and help sheets
    4. Regulatory monitoring
  13. CA jobs
    1. CA jobs partner: Rutherford Cross
    2. Resources for your job search
    3. Advertise with CA jobs
    4. Hays | A Trusted ICAS CA Jobs Partner
    5. Azets | What's your ambition?
  14. Work at ICAS
    1. Business centres
    2. Meet our team
    3. Benefits
    4. Vacancies
    5. Imagine your career at ICAS
  15. Contact us
    1. Technical and regulation queries
    2. ICAS logo request

As July approaches, are your National Insurance credits up to date?

  • LinkedIn (opens new window)
  • Twitter (opens new window)
By Chris Campbell, Head of Tax (Tax Practice and Owner Managed Business Taxes)

7 March 2023

Main points

  • Maintaining an individual’s National Insurance history is important for ensuring eligibility for state benefits.
  • Where an individual does not have sufficient National Insurance contributions in a year, it can be possible to pay voluntary contributions to make up the shortfall.
  • After the extended deadline of 31 July 2023, it will only be possible to backdate voluntary contributions by six tax years.

Chris Campbell explains the changes to the Voluntary National Insurance rules, originally due to be introduced from April 2023.

What is meant by voluntary National Insurance contributions?

Individuals who are employed and/or self-employed will normally pay National Insurance contributions in line with their earnings. Entitlement to state benefits (such as State Pension and Employment and Support Allowance) will be based on the number of qualifying years that an individual has accrued over their working life.

In addition to National Insurance on earnings, it can be possible to receive National Insurance credits so that a tax year can be treated as qualifying in an individual’s contribution history for state benefit purposes. This includes circumstances where a taxpayer is looking for work, is too unwell to work, is on maternity/paternity/adoption pay, is the recipient of Child Benefit, or is the spouse of a member of the armed forces.

Beyond this, in some circumstances, it is possible to make Voluntary National Insurance contributions so that a tax year can be classed as qualifying in an individual’s contribution history.

At present, where eligible, a man born after 5 April 1951 or a woman born after 5 April 1953 is currently able to pay voluntary contributions for tax years as far back as April 2006. This was due to change from 6 April 2023, but the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Victoria Atkins, announced in a written statement that the deadline would be extended to 31 July 2023. This is because the original 6 April 2023 deadline resulted in a surge in contact with HMRC.

What is changing from July 2023?

After 31 July 2023, it will only be possible to backdate voluntary contributions for the previous six tax years. Individuals who are eligible and have gaps in their National Insurance history, but do not qualify for National Insurance credits, will only be able to do so for April 2016 onwards.

Individuals who are unsure about their National Insurance history should check their National Insurance record as a matter of urgency. This will allow them to either contact HMRC to draw attention to any errors or have the opportunity to pay voluntary contributions before the rules change.

How many qualifying years are needed for State Pension?

In order to qualify for the new State Pension, an individual needs to have at least ten qualifying years in their National Insurance record. Those years do not need to be consecutive.

The level of State Pension paid will be based on the number of qualifying years, but the full State Pension will only be paid where an individual has 35 qualifying years. It is possible to check your State Pension forecast to illustrate the likely State Pension entitlement, which may influence any decisions regarding voluntary contributions.

Pension planning is a very specialist area, so it is important to take appropriate advice as required so that you can make the best decisions for your or your client’s circumstances.

Let us know your views

We welcome members’ input to inform our work on consultations or other tax-related matters – email tax@icas.com to share your insights and feedback. ICAS responds to many tax calls for evidence and consultations, as well as producing tax policy papers and reports. We also regularly attend meetings with HMRC at which service levels, delays and other issues are discussed, and we raise problems being encountered by members.

Tax

All our tax-related news, resources, guidance and features.

The ICAS Tax Team

Meet the members of the ICAS Tax Team and learn more about their work.

2022-11-mitigo 2022-11-mitigo
ICAS logo

Footer links

  • Contact us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Privacy notice
  • CA magazine

Connect with ICAS

  • Facebook (opens new window) Facebook Icon
  • Twitter (opens new window) Twitter Icon
  • LinkedIn (opens new window) LinkedIn Icon
  • Instagram (opens new window) Instagram Icon

ICAS is a member of the following bodies

  • Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (opens new window) Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies logo
  • Chartered Accountants Worldwide (opens new window) Chartered Accountants Worldwide logo
  • Global Accounting Alliance (opens new window) Global Accounting Alliance
  • International Federation of Accountants (opens new window) IFAC
  • Access Accountancy (opens new window) Access Acountancy

Charities

  • ICAS Foundation (opens new window) ICAS Foundation
  • SCABA (opens new window) scaba

Accreditations

  • ISO 9001 - RGB (opens new window)
© ICAS 2022

The mark and designation “CA” is a registered trade mark of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), and is available for use in the UK and EU only to members of ICAS. If you are not a member of ICAS, you should not use the “CA” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to accountancy, tax or insolvency services. The mark and designation “Chartered Accountant” is a registered trade mark of ICAS, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and Chartered Accountants Ireland. If you are not a member of one of these organisations, you should not use the “Chartered Accountant” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to these services. Further restrictions on the use of these marks also apply where you are a member.

ICAS logo

Our cookie policy

ICAS.com uses cookies which are essential for our website to work. We would also like to use analytical cookies to help us improve our website and your user experience. Any data collected is anonymised. Please have a look at the further information in our cookie policy and confirm if you are happy for us to use analytical cookies: