Voluntary contributions - national insurance and your pension
Overview
Your national insurance contributions affect your pension. If you work for 35 years and pay national insurance, you'll generally get a full pension. If you miss some years, you can make voluntary contributions - and can do this generally going back six years. You'll normally pay the extra contribution in one go.
In more detail
National insurance contributions over your working lifetime build up your pension entitlement.
You’ll need at least 10 qualifying years on your national insurance record to get a new state pension - and you may need 35 years to get a full pension.
A qualifying year is a year where you were:
- working and made National Insurance contributions
- getting National Insurance credits for example if you were unemployed, ill or a parent or carer
You might also qualify if you’ve lived or worked abroad or paid reduced rate National Insurance for married women.
If you don't have enough qualifying years, you can make voluntary contributions.
Those in certain specific jobs may also want to make voluntary contributions as they are treated differently for national insurance to others (including examiners, moderators, invigilators and people who set exam questions; people who run businesses involving land or property and ministers of religion who do not receive a salary or stipend).
HMRC links
Government information on the new state pension is good. You can also check your national insurance record for gaps (you'll need a Government Gateway login).
Making voluntary contributions in untied
In untied Pro, you can choose to make a voluntary contribution if you have a level of income below the minimum where you are required to pay it. This will show as an option when you file your return if this applies to you and may be labelled as Class 2 national insurance contribution (there are different types of contribution).
Tagging voluntary contributions in untied
If you make a voluntary contribution, it is not a tax-deductible expense and doesn't appear on your tax return. In untied simply tag it as personal or tax payment.