Number of people making extra national insurance payments surges

More people are making voluntary national insurance payments to boost their state pension – could you be missing out?

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Increasing numbers of people are opting to pay extra national insurance contributions (NICs) in an effort to boost their state pension.

It may seem strange for people to willingly pay more tax than necessary but HMRC data shows a total of £392m of voluntary class 3 NICs were paid in the year to March 2023, up from £212m in March 2022 and £172m in 2021.

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Marc Shoffman
Contributing editor

Marc Shoffman is an award-winning freelance journalist specialising in business, personal finance and property. His work has appeared in print and online publications ranging from FT Business to The Times, Mail on Sunday and the i newspaper. He also co-presents the In For A Penny financial planning podcast.