uk_grenada

The uk elderly care systems punishes saving and investing all over the shop. It seems to me that in the uk If you have no savings the state will provide in a miserly manner, if you have paid extra into govt you will receive slightly less miserly payments but you will be taxed to make you as poor, and woe betide your estate if you need residential or even visiting care.

Here if I had an elderly aunt I can employ 2 trained nurses/housekeepers full time for about 450 - 550 pounds a month, why would anyone with options want care in the uk....

MidAtlantic

Or you bet on the pension companies looking after you better!
Paying arrears of NI contributions is still one of the best deals around.

uk_grenada

Of course the pension companies are sharks of a different order, but where’s the maths that says returning to the uk and having your NI up to 35 years is so much better than having nada paid into the system and just after 3 months claiming the various benefits available to people on low pensions, cause you would it appears get the basic pension topped up in various ways. I have a relative who spent 30-60 in the states, returned to the uk with a major illness, flew back, walked into a&e a month later, and in 2 months was in residential care for life... The US state pension system now pays her quite a lot into her uk account, and the nhs can’t seem to be bothered to go for that. The systems just strange.

morpeth

I see your point but isn't the basic premise of the NHS is that British citizens all have rights to medical care, rich or poor ?

I do agree that at some level of income it wouldn't be unreasonable to have some "ring-fenced" taxes applied to support the NHS, but otherwise why should a British citizen be penalized for where they choose to live ?

durham_lad

It is HMRC, not the NHS, that should be "going after" her US State pension (aka SS) as the tax agreement between the US and UK specifies that SS is not taxed at all in the USA but fully taxed in the UK. If your relative is not been taxed by the UK it is not the "system" that is at fault it is your relative who is illegally evading taxes by not declaring her worldwide income.

FatFrank

I finally just paid the 8 years Class 2 that I was given permission to back pay, and could see no way to assign the payments made to a particular year, so I suppose that this is a risk for me too. To try and help avoid this, I made 8 separate CHAPS payments for the individual amounts due for each year. Let's see what happens!

I used Sort Code 20 20 48, Account number 30944793, and paid from our UK account. I'm guessing that the 18 digit reference number that they needed was the one printed at the bottom left of the NI statement that HMRC sent me, so used that. In the Payee name, I placed HMRC and my NI number.

Fingers crossed!!

morpeth

I am a bit curious. I assume the figure quoted is for each, and comes out to about 1300$ a month, which roughly equates to the federal minimum wage. I wasn't aware a trained nurse generally would be paid only the minimum wage. Adding the taxes one has to pay if one employs someone, I am guessing your total cost would then be at least $1500 a month for two trained nurses "full time".What state would that be ?

I agree about effect on the estate- we had an elderly aunt in UK and government literally forced her into old age home, and very quickly government moved to seize her house.

chawkins99

I phoned them and told them what I was sending and which years to apply them to. They noted on my account and when they finally appeared, they were applied correctly. The only problem was, one year was short due to transfer fees. I will fix that when I pay this year's payment.

Samiad

I sincerely hope it works out for you. When I made a CHAPS transfer to do the same I had to chase HMRC for over a year before they located the payment and assigned it correctly (they refused to acknowledge the payment had been made).

It took months to resolve even after I had Natwest provide their own proof that the transfer was successfully made correctly... d'oh! I hope I am an outlier.

alfista1

Me and my colleague are trying to find out if we can still choose class 2 while overseas. Isn't it still available despite the budget 2016 stating it will be abolished in April 2018? We are a little confused.

alfista1

Looks like they have postponed until 2019 now.
Doesn't make any sense to pay all that extra class 3 if the addition to your pension is exactly the same. 2.95 vs 14.95 for the same pension.

dossier

A slightly different question: but has anyone outside the UK been refused by HMRC NIC & EO to pay Voluntary Class 3 NICs on the basis that they don't meet the criteria?

"You can pay Class 3 NICs abroad:

• if you have paid Class 1 NICs for the first 52 weeks of your employment abroad
• if you satisfy both of the following conditions
  • you have lived in the UK for a continuous 3year period at any time before the period for which NICs are to be paid. (If you have lived or worked in another EEA country or in Turkey, time spent there might help you to meet this condition)
  • before you went abroad, you paid a set amount in NICs for 3 years or more (this will be checked when you ask to pay Class 3 NICs) "

Thanks

morpeth

What proof is normally required to be able to pay Class 2 instead of Class 3 when abroad ?

Does anyone know what happens in the following scenario " someone pays Class 3, but then works abroad for a period and pays Class 2 : does the class 2 contribution get combined with the Class contribution ? But if it is below the total Class 3 contribution required for the year, can it be topped up to make a few year contribution ?

mrken30

It appears there have been some changes in the ability to make contribution if you were contracted out.

Should I buy a state pension top-up? | Daytoday News

durham_lad