Has my employer not paid my NI?

Has my employer not paid my NI?

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Discussion

WouldBWelder

Original Poster:

263 posts

231 months

Monday 4th November
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Hi all, off work with a health problem currently, and have been for a good few months now. My statutory sick pay has stopped now (max of 28 weeks). I have applied for the Employment Support Allowance (ESA) but have been turned down as my NI contributions have not been high enough for the past 2/3 years. I couldn’t believe this as I’ve been employed full-time. I looked at my P60 for each of these years before I rang them and it seems they are right. This is a sample obviously in the pic but the ringed box in my case shows £0.00 on the last three years’ P60s.

So presumably this means my employer for whatever reason, has NOT paid the due NI to HMRC.

Not spoken to the finance/wages dept as only looked at the P60s a couple of hours ago but presume they’ll say you’ve had the money instead of paying it as NI - maybe they have paid it to me, maybe they haven’t. Either way, they’ve cost me a grand in ESA - I hope to be back at work in December at any rate but the claim was backdated to the start of September.

As you’ll have gathered I’m not one for studying my wage slips/P60 too hard in the past!




Exiled Imp

370 posts

225 months

Monday 4th November
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You can check NI contributions record here

https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

WouldBWelder

Original Poster:

263 posts

231 months

Monday 4th November
quotequote all
Yes, I’ve checked it and it says not enough was paid in, in those respective years. My real question is, if that ringed box shows zero, it’s not been paid.

CraigyMc

17,111 posts

243 months

Monday 4th November
quotequote all
WouldBWelder said:
Yes, I’ve checked it and it says not enough was paid in, in those respective years. My real question is, if that ringed box shows zero, it’s not been paid.
You will need your P60s for the relevant period to give the NI helpline a copy.

Phone them on 0300 200 3500.

Best of luck, it looks like your employer has erred.

Edited to add: the actual box you've circled in red, is the employee NI above the upper earnings limit (which is in the region of £50K). That box can be zero if you have been paid less than that amount that year.

I genuinely need glasses. That is indeed the annual amount of Employee NI paid.

I just cross-checked with my last P60.

Edited by CraigyMc on Monday 4th November 21:51

uk66fastback

16,926 posts

278 months

Monday 4th November
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So where on a P60 does it show how much NI I paid in a tax year? It tells me how much tax I have paid.

CraigyMc

17,111 posts

243 months

Monday 4th November
quotequote all
uk66fastback said:
So where on a P60 does it show how much NI I paid in a tax year? It tells me how much tax I have paid.
Sorry, I made a mistake. See edited post pls.

Countdown

42,033 posts

203 months

Monday 4th November
quotequote all
WouldBWelder said:
Yes, I’ve checked it and it says not enough was paid in, in those respective years. My real question is, if that ringed box shows zero, it’s not been paid.
The ringed box is "Employee's NI deductions!" - it is what has been deducted from your payslip. if it says zero then, in simple terms, your earnings were below the NI threshold (£242 per week I think).

I would check your March payslip which should show the cumulative Ers and Ees deductions and then compare these to what your P60 for the year says. To be honest it's all automated and its very hard to make a mistake unless your payroll team is incompetent.

The GOV.UK website is populated from the payroll system returns so my guess is that, according to your payroll system, you havent earned enough to have any Ees NI deducted.

Countdown

42,033 posts

203 months

Monday 4th November
quotequote all
WouldBWelder said:
So presumably this means my employer for whatever reason, has NOT paid the due NI to HMRC.
The amount of NI shown on the P60 is what should have been deducted from your pay. It is not necessarily the amount paid by your employer to HMRC. in very simple terms

1. Every time payroll is run there are multiple payments and deductions from Employees pay packets (Tax, NI, SSP, SMP, Student Laons)
2. An electronic file of all statutory payments / deductions for each employee is submitted to HMRC. There is a sum total figure which the Employer owes to HMRC. They need to pay this by the 19th of the following month.
3, As far as the employees' tax records are concerned it doesn't matter if or when the employer pays over this money. HMRC will chase them for the outstanding amounts.

WouldBWelder

Original Poster:

263 posts

231 months

Monday 4th November
quotequote all
Countdown said:
The ringed box is "Employee's NI deductions!" - it is what has been deducted from your payslip. if it says zero then, in simple terms, your earnings were below the NI threshold (£242 per week I think).

The GOV.UK website is populated from the payroll system returns so my guess is that, according to your payroll system, you havent earned enough to have any Ees NI deducted.
I’ve certainly earned more than £242 a week. What is strange is that on payslips, I’ve always previously seen the PAYE (tax) and NI amounts listed separately as deductions. On my payslip it shows only the PAYE figure - no mention of NI on the deductions side at all.

It’s a weird one. It’ll be interesting to see what the finance/payroll dept have to say.

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42,033 posts

203 months

Tuesday 5th November
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Are you over 65 by any chance?

WouldBWelder

Original Poster:

263 posts

231 months

Tuesday 5th November
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No, I’m younger than that.

MustangGT

12,287 posts

287 months

Tuesday 5th November
quotequote all
The P60 image shows very little earnings for the year for that employer. Did your employment change during the year, perhaps TUPE applied etc?

WouldBWelder

Original Poster:

263 posts

231 months

Tuesday 5th November
quotequote all
The P60 is just a sample P60 to highlight the box I ringed in red, it’s not one of mine.

CraigyMc

17,111 posts

243 months

Tuesday 5th November
quotequote all
MustangGT said:
The P60 image shows very little earnings for the year for that employer. Did your employment change during the year, perhaps TUPE applied etc?
That's a sample image I think.

@op you said you were ill. Were you on statutory sick pay for a long time?

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42,033 posts

203 months

Tuesday 5th November
quotequote all
WouldBWelder said:
I’ve certainly earned more than £242 a week. What is strange is that on payslips, I’ve always previously seen the PAYE (tax) and NI amounts listed separately as deductions. On my payslip it shows only the PAYE figure - no mention of NI on the deductions side at all.

It’s a weird one. It’ll be interesting to see what the finance/payroll dept have to say.
Have you actually HAD any NI deducted? What i mean is - if you take your gross pay, minus the tax, does that equal your net pay?



WouldBWelder

Original Poster:

263 posts

231 months

Tuesday 5th November
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My March 2023 payslip shows an NI payment from my employer of £170.71 for that month. It shows three things on the debit side, PAYE, pension and union. No mention of NI on the debit side as a separate entry, as there hasn’t been since I started working there in May 2021.

It shows two figures in a box on the bottom left, NIable pay and Taxable pay - these amounts are the same on every payslip.

Sheepshanks

35,018 posts

126 months

Tuesday 5th November
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Do you work in the construction industry - I’m wondering if it could be CIS (Construction Industry Scheme) related?

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42,033 posts

203 months

Tuesday 5th November
quotequote all
WouldBWelder said:
My March 2023 payslip shows an NI payment from my employer of £170.71 for that month. It shows three things on the debit side, PAYE, pension and union. No mention of NI on the debit side as a separate entry, as there hasn’t been since I started working there in May 2021.

It shows two figures in a box on the bottom left, NIable pay and Taxable pay - these amounts are the same on every payslip.
That is strange.

At least your payroll agrees to your P60 and both agree to your GOV.UK records. Its a question for your payroll team as to why you havent had any Employees NI deducted.

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42,033 posts

203 months

Tuesday 5th November
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
Do you work in the construction industry - I’m wondering if it could be CIS (Construction Industry Scheme) related?
confused

If OP was CIS he would be self-employed as far as I'm aware, not on the payroll

Sheepshanks

35,018 posts

126 months

Tuesday 5th November
quotequote all
Countdown said:
confused

If OP was CIS he would be self-employed as far as I'm aware, not on the payroll
I’m not that familiar with it but I think it can work in different ways.

It was just a thought. Otherwise, what the OP’s employer has done (or rather, not done) is baffling. As others have suggested, the payroll software should figure it all out.