DANSP39200 - Notices of decision: Wording of decisions about late applications for refunds of National Insurance contributions: Special Class 4 National Insurance contributions
DANSP24500 explains that appealable decisions can be issued which tell a person whether a late application for a refund of National Insurance contributions (NIC) under regulation 110(3) of the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001 No 1004) (the Regulations) can be admitted.
For guidance about late application for the return of special Class 4 NIC see NIM38504.
Persons named in a decision
The person to name in such decisions is the person who paid the special Class 4 NIC.
Period covered by a decision
Special Class 4 NIC are paid after the end of a tax year. They are assessed on earnings paid in the last complete tax year. The period covered by the decisions should, therefore, be the tax year they are paid for, not the year in which they were actually paid.
The examples below apply the legal requirements and general principles for wording decisions in DANSP29200 and DANSP29300.
Example 1
My decision is that:
You did not have a reasonable excuse for not making the application for repayment of the special Class 4 contributions you paid in error in the 2014 to 2015 tax year amounting to £329.07 within the specified period.
In cases where HMRC accepts that a person has a reasonable excuse for making a refund application late, to admit the application, HMRC must be satisfied that the application was made without unreasonable delay after the excuse had ceased. Where HMRC considers that there has been an unreasonable delay, the wording of the decision should reflect this, see example 2 below.
Example 2
My decision is that:
You have a reasonable excuse for not making the application for return of the Class 4 contributions you paid in error in the 2014 to 2015 tax year amounting to £329.07 within the specified period.
Your application cannot be admitted because it was made with unreasonable delay after the reason excuse had ended.
Commentary on examples
The wording of the decisions reflect the fact that conditions in regulation 110(3) of the Regulations are not satisfied.
Before issuing such a decision, HMRC should have told the contributor
- what the specified period was,
- what conditions must be satisfied to admit an application late, and
- why the contributor did not satisfy those conditions.