Kearney v HMRC

Personal Tax: National insurance contributions

In Kearney v HMRC (CA – 23 March) a British citizen (K) had been born in 1929. In 1948 he began working for the Kenyan police. He continued to work in Kenya until 1975. While he was in Kenya he did not pay any national insurance contributions until 1971 when he was permitted to pay backdated contributions for the previous six years. He subsequently applied to pay backdated Class 3 National Insurance Contributions to cover the period from 1948 to 1965 in order to qualify for a full UK pension. HMRC rejected the claim on the basis that his failure to pay these contributions was attributable to his 'failure to exercise due care and diligence' within Social Security (Contributions) Regulations SI 2001/1004 reg 50. K appealed. The General Commissioners allowed his appeal and the CA upheld their decision...