| HM Revenue & Customs
(HMRC) has hit back at suggestions that
more than £1.3 billion in national
insurance contributions (NICs) has been
lost. HMRC spoke out after Ian
Liddell-Grainger, chair of the All Party
Parliamentary Taxation Group, said that a
kitty of unaccredited contributions for
more than nine million people had built up
over the past five years.
But the BBC reported that HMRC had
denied that there was a problem, quoting a
spokesman as saying: "No-one should have a
reduced pension. We write to people where
we see there is a gap in their
contributions and if they contact us to
report a gap we deal with the situation
immediately.”
Figures, obtained by Mr
Liddell-Grainger showed that between 2004
and 2009, around 9.3 million national
insurance payments had been collected but
were not matched to worker records.
HMRC receives around 48 million P14
forms each year from employers, which
contain the details of the tax and
national insurance paid by their
employees, which it matches to individual
national insurance records.
Where records cannot be matched – for
example, because of an incorrect national
insurance number – HMRC staff work to
resolve the problem, with the
contributions kept in a separate account
in the meantime.
Employees can check their annual P60 to
ensure that their national insurance
number is correct, which means that they
will be credited with the appropriate
contributions.
LINK:
HMRC national insurance guidance |
