NIM06140 - Class 1 NICs: Expenses and allowances: Relocation allowances: Employees who have not paid NICs on relocation expenses paid prior to 6 April 1998

As explained in NIM06115 legal advice indicated in 1997 that relocation allowances are earnings for NICs purposes and that NICs should have been paid since 6 April 1975.

The misinterpretation of the law will mean that some people who received relocation allowances before 1998 but did not pay NICs on them may have missed out on contributory benefit entitlement. If the allowances had been included in earnings they might have been liable to pay primary NICs on them and the extra primary NICs might have made the difference between qualifying for benefit or additional amounts of benefit.

On 16 March 1998 a Press Release was issued by the then Contributions Agency inviting individuals who thought they might have been adversely affected to contact the Agency for advice.