Deadline to top up national insurance contributions extended

The deadline for making voluntary national insurance (NI) contributions dating back to April 2006 is 31 July 2023. The government has declared that the voluntary NI rates for contributions made during this timeframe will be 2022–2023.

In order to fill in any gaps or incomplete years in a taxpayer’s NI record, voluntary NI contributions for the previous six tax years are typically permissible. A taxpayer’s eligibility for the state pension and other benefits may be impacted if they do not have the required number of full years of NI contributions.

A current extension enables individuals to make voluntary payments to fill up any gaps in their NI contribution history from 6 April 2006 to the present. On 5 April 2023, this was supposed to stop.

The extension will now expire on 31 July 2023, according to the government’s announcement. Payments paid from 6 April to 31 July 2023 will be at the voluntary NI rate of £15.85 per week for the 2022–2023 tax year. As a result, taxpayers have more time to locate and fill in any historical gaps in their NI record.

The window for making voluntary contributions will return to the standard six years on August 1, 2023. From that point on, only contributions dating back to the 2017–18 tax year will be accepted. The higher voluntary NI rates of £17.45 per week will be used for contributions. These higher voluntary NI rates, which were scheduled to go into effect on 6 April 2023, won’t be applicable if payments are paid by the extension’s deadline of 31 July 2023.

For more detail on how taxpayers can check their NI record, see the checklist of actions here.