NIM33202 - Voluntary National Insurance contributions for periods abroad – Entitlement to pay voluntary Class 2 contributions up to and including 5 April 2026
The Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001 No.1004) – Regulation 147
Where a person:
· immediately before leaving the UK was ordinarily an employed or self-employed earner; and
· is either employed or self-employed for each contribution week outside of the UK; and
· is no longer liable to pay UK NICs
they can, if certain conditions are satisfied, apply to pay voluntary Class 2 NICs in order to maintain their UK National Insurance record for benefit purposes.
The conditions to satisfy are set out in regulation 147(3) SSCR 2001 which explains an individual must:
· have been resident in the UK for a continuous period of at least 3 years, at any time before the period for which the contributions are to be paid; or
there have been paid by or on behalf of that person:
· contributions of the appropriate amount for each of 3 years ending at any time before the relevant period; or
· contributions of the appropriate amount for each of 2 years ending at any time before the relevant period and, in addition, has paid 52 weekly contributions under either or both the Social Security Act (SSA) 1975 or the National Insurance Act (NIA) 1965; or
· contributions of the appropriate amount for any one year ending at any time before the relevant period and, in addition, has paid 104 weekly contributions under either or both the SSA 1975 or NIA 1965; or
· 156 weekly contributions under either or both the SSA 1975 or the NIA 1965.
Contributions of an “appropriate amount” means that the contributions are sufficient to ensure that a qualifying earnings factor is achieved for the tax year; that is, the year counts for benefit purposes. Contributions paid under the SSA 1975 or NIA 1965 can be for any period, not necessarily complete tax years. See NIM25001 for further information.
“Relevant period” means the period prior to that for which voluntary contributions are to be paid. To satisfy the “ordinarily an employed or self-employed earner” “immediately before leaving the UK” criteria, the facts of the case are considered to evaluate whether there is a sufficiently close relationship between the person’s overall employment record in the UK and the time when they leave the UK. “Ordinarily,” is taken to mean “normally” or “most of the time”.
Note: Between November 2017 and April 2019, HMRC’s guidance was incorrect. The guidance stated that a person had to satisfy both the residence and contribution conditions within Regulation 147(3). However, a person only needs to satisfy one of these conditions.
Example
Helen has recently graduated from university and gets a job in journalism. She works for a local newspaper in the UK for nine months before taking a job in Brazil as a self-employed journalist. Helen has lived in the UK from birth.
Helen wants to pay voluntary Class 2 NICs while working in Brazil. As Helen has lived in the UK continuously since birth, she meets the residence requirement in Regulation 147(3) SSCR 2001. Helen has worked in the UK since graduating. Helen therefore satisfies the requirement of being an employed earner immediately before leaving the UK and she will be self-employed while in Brazil. Helen is entitled to pay voluntary Class 2 NICs.
Example
Connor has recently graduated from university. Connor has lived in the UK continuously from birth. He has undertaken no employment or self-employment in the UK.
Connor wants to pay voluntary Class 2 NICs while working in South Africa for a South African based company. As Connor has lived in the UK since birth, he meets the residence requirement in Regulation 147(3) SSCR 2001. Connor has no history of employment in the UK. Connor therefore does not satisfy the requirement of being an employed earner immediately before leaving the UK. Connor is not entitled to pay voluntary Class 2 NICs. Connor will, however, be able to pay voluntary Class 3 NICs while in South Africa.
Note: Where a person departs or returns to the UK within a tax year, they may not need to pay voluntary NICs for that year if they achieve a qualifying earnings factor for benefit purposes by virtue of any NICs paid while in the UK