HMRC is urging UK households across the UK to “do one thing” to boost their State Pension payout.
The government department is calling for people to download the HMRC app to check their National Insurance (NI) contributions, which could add £10,000s to their pension pot.
The full rate of the ‘new’ State Pension is £221.20, but the amount you get is dependent on how many ‘qualifying’ NI years you have.
NI contributions are usually collected through working and paying NI, but you can also get them if you’re claiming certain benefits.
These contributions count towards your State Pension and you generally need around 35 full NI years to get the maximum amount.
So if you’re getting less than £221.20 per week it may be the case that you need more NI qualifying years to increase your pension pot.
Each qualifying year after April 6, 2016 added to your NI record increases your State Pension amount, up to the full rate of £221.20 per week.
According to HMRC, more than 10,000 have increased their pensions by a combined £12.5 million over the last six months but the deadline to make voluntary NI contributions is now less than six months away.
Pensioners have until April 5, 2025 to buy NI contributions to potentially add thousands to their State Pension, but after this deadline, you’ll only be able to make NI contributions for the previous six tax years.
Pensioners can use the HMRC app to check their NI record and buy back any missing NI years ahead of the April deadline.
Your record will show every year since you were 16 and will say either ‘Full year’ or ‘Year is not full’ next, followed by a link to get more information. If you have any ‘not full’ years since 2006, it could be worth paying to fill these years to increase your State Pension.
If you do have any gaps in your NI record you should check if you’re eligible for National Insurance credits first before deciding to pay voluntary contributions.
If you’re below State Pension age you can access your State Pension forecast on the app which will show how much you’ll get based on your NI record to date, and if you’ll benefit from paying voluntary contributions.
You can usually pay voluntary contributions for the past six years and the deadline is April 5 each year, but you can sometimes pay for gaps from more than six years ago, depending on your age.
Full information on how to apply for missing NI credits you’re due is available on the government website.
