Do your clients have "lost" years of NICs?

Taxpayers can be asked to provide evidence of missing NIC

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Article in FT today about an FT journalist who challenged HMRC about a missing year of NICs from 1988/89. She knew she had been employed in that year and paid NIC, as had her employer, but HMRC said it had no record of that employment. 

HMRC said the taxpyer would have to provide the 30 year old records to prove her NIC record was incorrect. Only after the taxpayer made an official complaint did HMRC look harder and find the missing records on microfilm.

Has this happened to you or your cleints?

Replies (9)

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By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
02nd Jan 2020 09:33

Rebecca,

I had a not dissimilar problem last year, solved with a subject access request which they turned around in 30 days or so. Links here:

https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/any-answers/success-with-hmrc

We were told initially we would need to prove the income, but the SAR gave all the detail we needed. That is to say HMRC had all the data in the first place, but they just did not look hard enough.

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By bernard michael
02nd Jan 2020 09:44

"Look hard enough" Couldn't be bothered is nearer the truth

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Replying to bernard michael:
RLI
By lionofludesch
02nd Jan 2020 10:37

A very fair analysis, Bernard.

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By Marion Hayes
02nd Jan 2020 12:11

Thinking back there were 2 years when, on the change of computer systems HMIT lost the nic records {P11's}
The first time they put matters right but the second year they announced you would have to prove contributions when you needed to make a claim.
We told our clients to check their record anyway but I haven't come across it since then

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By K81
02nd Jan 2020 13:00

one of my clients was asked for payslips from 1950 or if not held names of the managers of the shoe shop in which she worked in London to support her state pension claim!

after a very strongly worded letter my client was awarded state pension but I have no idea if she is receiving the correct amount or not.

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Replying to K81:
RLI
By lionofludesch
02nd Jan 2020 13:06

Jeez - when was this ?

Anybody working in 1950 would be well into their 80s now,

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Replying to lionofludesch:
By K81
02nd Jan 2020 15:27

my client is 88, this was 9 years ago after she had tried & failed to get any state pension for some time. HMRC kept saying no as she moved to USA in 1960's for twenty years, but she worked in UK before & after - HMRC said no record of any NI contributions. Eventually started paying her from her 80th birthday.

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Jennifer Adams
By Jennifer Adams
02nd Jan 2020 13:40

One of the first questions I ask a new client is whether they are on track for a full state pension, whether their NIC payments are up to date and if not how many years they are behind. Clients think I'm obsessed with this but if someone came up to you and said 'here's £150 a week for the rest of your life' you wouldnt turn it down especially if you were self employed with the low contributions needed.

Every so often I send a reminder email round to all clients to check their contribution records - just as a 'nudge'.

30 years ago my husband worked in Guernsey which has a reciprocal arrangement with the UK with reference to the state pension - in other words anything he paid whilst working there will count towards his UK state pension.

However, HMRC's computer cant cope with registering such payments apparently and when I rang about this (30 years ago remember!) I was told that he was to keep all payslips from that period until he was 64 years and then send them to HMRC and only then would they record the payments.

As it happens he's achieved the max amount now so it shouldnt be a concern but he's keeping the payslips - just in case.

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By bernard michael
02nd Jan 2020 15:53

Did she get a lump sum to pay for the arrears ??

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