DANSP39500 | Notices of decision: Wording of decisions about failure to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions due to ignorance or error

DANSP24200 explains that appealable decisions can be issued which tell a person whether the reason Class 2 National Insurance contributions (NIC) are unpaid is due to the contributor’s ignorance or error and if it is, whether that ignorance or error was due to the contributor’s failure to exercise due care and diligence.

Persons named in a decision

The DAA1(A) should be issued to the person who was liable to pay Class 2 NIC.

Period covered by a decision

When you issue such a decision refer to the period for which the person is liable to pay Class 2 NIC. The period should start with a Sunday, the first day of a contribution week, and end with a Saturday, the end of a contribution week.

The examples below apply the legal requirements and general principles for wording decisions in DANSP29200 and DANSP29300.

Example

My decision is that:

In the period from 4 May 2014 to 28 November 2015 you were liable to pay Class 2 contributions.

You failed to pay Class 2 contributions for this period.

The failure to pay was attributable to your ignorance or error. That ignorance or error was the result of your failure to exercise due care and diligence.

Commentary on example

Before issuing such a decision, HMRC should have told the contributor:

• the time limits within which Class 2 NIC must be paid,

• when the time limits can be extended,

• why we consider that the time limits cannot be extended,

• when the higher rate provisions apply to Class 2 NIC due in the period shown in the decision.