HMRC chief urges thousands to check NI record
In a recent statement HMRC’s chief executive has flagged a problem affecting the NI records of tens of thousands of taxpayers. The trouble concerns anyone entitled to child benefit between 1978 and 2000. What steps are needed to correct the problem?
Parents looking after children are entitled to adjustments to their NI record to ensure they don’t lose out on state pension entitlement. However, tens of thousands of people who claimed child benefit between 1978 and 2000 could be receiving too little in state pension because their NI records were not adjusted for home responsibilities protection (HRP). We initially reported this back in October 2024, but the scale of the problem appears to be greater than first thought. HRP reduced the number of qualifying years of NI contributions needed for the pre full basic state pension. While NI records were automatically adjusted between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2010 (when HRP was replace by NI credits), prior to May 2000 many child benefit claimants didn’t provide their NI number meaning they may not have benefited from HRP. According to the government’s latest figures the average total loss to date of state pension for each person affected is over £7,850.
Those who claimed child benefit between 1978 and 2000 should check their NI records to see if they are eligible to make a claim for HRP. HMRC has also produced a short video about HRP on LinkedIn if you’re unsure as to what it relates to.
Related Topics
-
HMRC launches new R&D advance assurance process
HMRC has introduced a new advance assurance process for research and development (R&D) tax relief claims, aimed at giving eligible companies greater certainty before submitting a claim. What does the new process involve?
-
Dodging tax and NI on 2025/26 benefits
If you had taxable benefits in kind in 2025/26 then you’ll have to pay income tax on the value. Your company also has to pay 15% NI. Now the tax year has passed is there any way you can reduce or eliminate this tax liability?
-
Selling spare items to your company
You’re short of cash but if you use the traditional methods to take more money out of your company you’ll pay higher rate taxes. Is there another way to extract profits without paying income tax or NI?
This website uses both its own and third-party cookies to analyze our services and navigation on our website in order to improve its contents (analytical purposes: measure visits and sources of web traffic). The legal basis is the consent of the user, except in the case of basic cookies, which are essential to navigate this website.