UC Claim "did you pay self employed NIC last month

UC Claim "did you pay self employed NIC last month

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I don't usually do UC claims but a client has needed to claim due to lack of Covid support.  He's doing it himself, but phoned with a query which I'm struggling to find an answer to.  He says there's a question (to paraphrase) "did you pay s/e nic last month" (Aug 6 to Sep 5).  Obviously NIC is now paid yearly under the SA form, so no one s/e would have "paid" any in August.  Would he be right to answer yes on the grounds that he intends to pay voluntary class 2 for the full year 20/21 even if he turns out under the threshold to pay it compulsorarily?

Replies (6)

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Teesside
By Teesside
04th Sep 2020 12:04

My understanding (I may be wrong) is that UC treats everything when it's actually either paid or received and not on any accrual basis. So in my opinion is he would answer no to this question but I'm no way an expert on UC and this is based on what I have heard from clients claiming UC in the past.

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By SXGuy
04th Sep 2020 12:19

Had a client call with the same question this week. I told him to put no since he didn't pay it in the period they are asking. If that's not what they meant they should revise the question, not about to 2nd guess what they mean when the question is so precise.

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By New To Accountancy
04th Sep 2020 13:40

I phoned Universal credit and asked this exact question and they said yes it is to be included. Its on the clients journal and their response is too, so its in writing should it ever be challenged. I advised my client to specifically state which year the payment was for. The reason I advised to write it on their journal is because the answer will change depending on who you speak to and you've no evidence if you make a phone call. Maybe do the same with the clients journal for back up.

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RLI
By lionofludesch
04th Sep 2020 15:36

Typical poorly worded ambiguous question from a Government department who doesn't understand other Government departments.

It depends what you mean by "pay".

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By jonharris999
04th Sep 2020 16:08

I have been advising 'no' to this for the same reason given by Teesside. NewToAccountancy is entirely right that you would get as many different answers on the phone as you made phone calls.

If someone had, say, made a payment on account in the period concerned and had had a Class 4 liability in the previous year then the answer would be 'yes'.

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By jonharris999
04th Sep 2020 16:08

I have been advising 'no' to this for the same reason given by Teesside. NewToAccountancy is entirely right that you would get as many different answers on the phone as you made phone calls.

If someone had, say, made a payment on account in the period concerned and had had a Class 4 liability in the previous year then the answer would be 'yes'.

Thanks (1)