HC Deb 10 March 1982 vol 19 cc438-9W
Mr. Bevan

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether there is any provision to prevent retrospective double payments of past national insurance contributions, of whatever class or classes, following a change of a contributor's status, for example from class 2 to class 1.

Mr. Rossi

A contributor cannot be liable to pay concurrent contributions both as an employed and self-employed earner in respect of the same employment. If he pays contributions of the wrong class they may be set against the contributions properly payable by him when any amount underpaid, or available for refund, is calculated.

Mr. Bevan

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, whether a director of his or her own companies acting in association with one another is liable for an amount of class I secondary (employer's) contributions in respect of each associated company regardless of whether or not the total contribution liability exceeds an equivalent 100 per cent. under the concept of a single economic unit.

Mr. Rossi

Secondary contributions are payable on a director's liable earnings by his company, as employer, not by the director himself. The rules governing secondary contributions for people with more than one job, which were set out in my hon. Friend's reply to my hon. Friend on 17 February 1982—[Vol. 18, c.140]—apply equally to directors and other class I contributors. Earnings in different employments must however, where possible, be aggregated and treated as a single payment by the secondary contributors concerned where they are in association for the purposes of these employments and the earnings in one or more of them are below the lower limit for contribution liability.

Mr. Richard Wainwright

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the annual cost of maintaining individual personal records of national insurance contributions.

Mr. Newton

It is estimated that for 1980–81, the last year for which information is available, the cost centrally of maintaining 49 million personal insurance contribution records was of the order of £30 million.