Top 100 30th anniversary edition out on May 13
Belfast Telegraph business editor Margaret Canning said: 'We are proud to have been publishing the Top 100 for 30 years, and we're happy to celebrate this milestone.'
Richard Gillan, managing partner of Grant Thornton Northern Ireland, headline sponsor of the publication, said: 'As the trusted adviser to many of the businesses featured, Grant Thornton is the natural partner for the Belfast Telegraph Top 100 Companies. We are delighted to once again recognise these businesses in the 30th anniversary publication.
'In recent years, our annual Top 100 breakfast event has become a highlight of the business calendar, and we look forward to hosting representatives from the companies at the Titanic Hotel, Belfast on May 13.'
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Daily Record
16 hours ago
- Daily Record
New calls to exempt people from paying National Insurance Contributions after 35 years
A new online petition is urging the UK Government to change the current policy on National Insurance deductions. Income tax rises for Scots in April - how the changes affect you A new online petition is calling for National Insurance (NI) deductions to be scrapped once someone has contributed 35 years' worth and is entitled to the maximum State Pension rate in retirement. The State Pension age is currently 66, but set to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028. Many people approaching retirement age may not be aware that to receive the full New State Pension payment of £230.25 each week, they will need around 35 years' worth of NI contributions. You will usually need at least 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to qualify for any State Pension payment. Petition creator Debra Fielding argues that the current system is 'unfair' and people 'should be able to stop paying after we have reached 35 years of NI contributions'. The 'exempt people from paying National Insurance Contributions after 35 years' petition has been posted on the UK Government's Petitions Parliament website and states: 'I urge the Government to exempt people from paying National Insurance after reaching the 35 years of NI contributions required to receive the basic state pension. 'I believe we should be able to stop paying after we have reached 35 years of NI contributions.' The campaigner continues: 'I believe it to be unfair of people still paying NI after they have achieved the 35 years. I feel the situation has been made more unfair by raising the State Pension age. 'By the time I retire at 67, I could have paid 16 years more than the 35 years for full pension - that's 51 years NI paid as I worked since the age of 16.' If you are worried about how many years you need to work - if retirement is a long way off, or just a few years away - our handy guide below should help you understand how National Insurance contributions affect the amount of State Pension you will be paid. How to get any New State Pension payment You will need at least 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to qualify for any State Pension, but they don't have to be 10 qualifying years in a row. This means for 10 years at least one or more of the following applied to you: you were working and paid National Insurance contributions you were getting National Insurance credits for example if you were unemployed, ill, a parent or a carer you were paying voluntary National Insurance contributions If you have lived or worked abroad you might still be able to get some New State Pension. You might also qualify if you have paid married women's or widow's reduced rate contributions - find out more about this on the website here. How to get full New State Pension payments The first thing to understand is that the term 'full' means the maximum amount of New State Pension a person can receive. You will need around 35 qualifying years to receive the full New State Pension if you do not have a National Insurance record before 6 April 2016 - this may be more if you were 'contracted out', find out more here. For people who have contributed between 10 and 35 years, they are entitled to a portion of the new State Pension, but not the full amount unless they buy additional NI years. Qualifying years if you are working When you are working you pay National Insurance and get a qualifying year if: you're employed and earning over £242 a week from one employer you're self-employed and paying NI contributions You might not pay National Insurance contributions because you're earning less than £242 a week. You may still get a qualifying year if you earn between £123 and £242 a week from one employer - find out more here. Qualifying years if you are not working You may get National Insurance credits if you cannot work - for example because of illness or disability, or if you're a carer or you're unemployed. You can get National Insurance credits if you: claim Child Benefit for a child under 12 (or under 16 before 2010) get Jobseeker's Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance receive Carer's Allowance If you are not working or getting National Insurance credits You might be able to pay voluntary National Insurance contributions if you're not in one of these groups but want to increase your State Pension amount. Find out more on the website here. What if there are gaps in your National Insurance record? You can have gaps in your NI record and still get the full New State Pension. You can get a State Pension statement which will tell you how much State Pension you may get. You can then apply for a National Insurance statement from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to check if your record has gaps. If you have gaps in your National Insurance record that would prevent you from getting the full New State Pension, you may be able to: get National InsuranceI credits make voluntary National Insurance contributions Check your National Insurance record on here. Check your State Pension age Check your State Pension age to find out when you can retire and claim State pension using the free online tool at here. This will tell you: when you will reach State Pension age your Pension Credit qualifying age We have a dedicated section for the latest news on the State Pension here.
Daily Record
17 hours ago
- Daily Record
Retirement expert issues new payment warning to people nearing State Pension age
The State Pension can form the main source of income for many people in retirement. Pension Credit – Could you or someone you know be eligible? The latest data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows that while 4.5 million older people currently receive the New State Pension, over two million (45%) do not receive the full entitlement of £230.25 per week, some £11,973 for the 2025/26 tax year. The DWP data also indicates 200,721 pensioners receive less than half of that full weekly payment (£230.25). People need at least 35 years' worth of qualifying National Insurance Contributions (NI) to qualify for the full State Pension, with a minimum of 10 qualifying NI years needed to be eligible for any amount. New research from retirement specialists at Just Group has found that fewer than six in 10 (57%) adults of State Pension age or older knew how many years' worth of NI contributions they need to claim the full State Pension. The research found that 13 per cent of people over 66 said that the State Pension accounted for over 90 per cent of their monthly household income with 44 per cent saying that it represented more than half of their household income. Stephen Lowe, group communications director at Just Group, commented: 'Before people claim the State Pension, we'd urge them to check if they will actually receive the full New State Pension and if not to review their NI record to see where they have gaps in their record. 'For some, it may make sense to pay extra to make the contributions voluntarily and retrospectively for the previous six tax years. The extra income over the course of a retirement may offset the initial cost of these contributions. 'For others who may have spent time out of the workforce on maternity leave or providing care for loved ones, for example, they may be eligible to claim NI credits which can help fill in gaps and build extra State Pension income for free.' Gaps in National Insurance records can be backfilled by paying for voluntary Class 3 National Insurance contributions, however these can only be made for the previous six tax years. However, before people start receiving the State Pension they can claim credits to backfill gaps in their NI records for various reasons such as maternity leave, unemployment, sickness or for providing caring responsibilities. State Pension age changes The State Pension age is set to start rising from 66 to 67 next year, with the increase due to be completed for all men and women across the UK by 2028. The planned change to the official age of retirement has been in legislation since 2014 with a further State Pension age rise from 67 to 68 set to be implemented between 2044 and 2046. The contributory benefit provides essential financial support for nearly 13 million older people across the country, including more than one million retirees living in Scotland. Many people approaching the official age of retirement this year (or next) and eligible to start claiming State Pension from the DWP, or those approaching 55 and keen to start withdrawing from a personal or workplace pension, may not be aware of a handy checklist produced by the Citizens Advice network to help navigate the unchartered territory of the road to retirement. The nine-point checklist is a good place to start if you're nearing the end of your working life and not sure what financial support is available in later life to help you enjoy retirement to its fullest. Retirement checklist Citizens Advice Scotland has a full guide to retirement planning which you can read here, below is a quick overview of what you should check as you approach retirement. 1. Work out what money you'll have coming in and think about how your spending might change once you're retired - the Citizens Advice Budgeting Tool can help with drawing up a budget. 2. If you get benefits, let the benefit provider know when you will be retiring - you may have to claim a different benefit or the amount you get might change. 3. Check whether you're entitled to any new benefits - you might be able to get benefits like Carer's Allowance, Carer Support Payment, Housing Benefit or a Council Tax Reduction. 4. Work out how much is left to pay on your mortgage (if you have one) - you might want to pay off what's left with a lump sum, but you should get financial advice first 5. Get an estimate of your State Pension - the State Pension calculator can help you with this. 6. Track down any pension providers that you've lost contact with - the P ension Tracing Service can help with this. Call them on 0800 731 0193 or use their online form to find a lost pension. 7. Get in touch with all your pension providers and let them know you're planning for retirement - they'll usually send you important information about your pension. 8. Get financial advice or help from MoneyHelper (formerly Pension Wise) - if you have a personal pension so that you know all the options available to you. You may have to pay for independent financial advice, but it could be worth it in the long run. 9. Consider leaving your pension pot to someone when you die - there will be tax implications for doing this, so you should talk to your pension provider or an independent financial adviser. here. Check your State Pension age Your State Pension age is the earliest age you can start receiving your State Pension. It may be different to the age you can get a workplace or personal pension. Anyone of any age can use the online tool at to check their State Pension age, which can be an essential part of planning your retirement. You can use the State Pension age tool to check: When you will reach State Pension age Your Pension Credit qualifying age When you will be eligible for free bus travel - this is at age 60 in Scotland Check your State Pension age online here.
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Thousands of workers could miss out on £5,400 in state pension due to HMRC error – are you affected?
THOUSANDS of workers could miss out on £5,400 in their state pension because of an HMRC error. Experts are warning self-employed workers are at risk of losing money because of how their National Insurance contributions have been handled by the taxman. 1 Experts say HMRC errors could mean some workers miss out on thousands of pounds Credit: Alamy They say thousands of people may have had their Class 2 NICs wrongly refunded by HMRC. Class 2 NICs have now been scrapped but they were a flat-rate weekly charge of £3.45 paid by self-employed people. While it was only a small amount, it could affect your state pension payments. That's because when it was refunded by mistake, HMRC effectively treated that year as if no valid National Insurance contributions were made. If you miss a year of National Insurance credits, this can reduce your state pension - as well as affecting your entitlement to some benefits like Maternity Allowance. You need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance credits to get the full state pension of £11,973 a year. But if you only have 10 qualifying years, for example, you would get just £3,420.86 a year. Greg Moss, founder of 11.2 Financial Planning, said he'd seen the issues among his self-employed clients. He warned self-employed people are generally more "at risk" of having gaps in their National Insurance contributions and therefore missing out on their full state pension. Tom Selby, director of public policy at AJ Bell, said: "The impact of missing years of NI contributions on your state pension entitlement could be significant. "If it means you miss out on the 35-year NI record you need by one year, you might get £342 a year less for life, based on someone entitled to the full state pension of £11,973 a year. "Given that £342 is currently protected by the state pension triple-lock, that would mean receiving thousands of pounds less income over the course of an average retirement." The current state pension age is 66, although this is set to rise in the coming years. If you lived to 82, that means you would miss out on a total of £5,472 from your state pension. How does the state pension work? AT the moment the current state pension is paid to both men and women from age 66 - but it's due to rise to 67 by 2028 and 68 by 2046. The state pension is a recurring payment from the government most Brits start getting when they reach State Pension age. But not everyone gets the same amount, and you are awarded depending on your National Insurance record. For most pensioners, it forms only part of their retirement income, as they could have other pots from a workplace pension, earning and savings. The new state pension is based on people's National Insurance records. Workers must have 35 qualifying years of National Insurance to get the maximum amount of the new state pension. You earn National Insurance qualifying years through work, or by getting credits, for instance when you are looking after children and claiming child benefit. If you have gaps, you can top up your record by paying in voluntary National Insurance contributions. To get the old, full basic state pension, you will need 30 years of contributions or credits. You will need at least 10 years on your NI record to get any state pension. The Government scrapped Class 2 NICs in April last year in an effort to simplify the tax system for self-employed people. If your profits are above £6,845, your contributions are now treated as being made automatically so you don't have to pay. If you're earning below this amount you don't have to pay but you can choose to voluntarily to protect your entitlement to the state pension and other benefits. You should contact HMRC and make arrangements to pay before the self-assessment deadline. Mr Moss said: "I've seen issues both with people not properly registering as self employed, so they don't get these credit for contributions, and not realising they have to make voluntary Class 2 contributions because they are under the threshold. "We also see people who are self employed but have not notified HMRC via the correct process and so their Class 2 NI payments are rejected or not properly recorded. "The changes were really not well publicised at the time, and it's hard for self employed people to get helpful and reliable information on their position." An HMRC spokesperson said: "We're sorry to those affected and are working hard to resolve the issue." What is National Insurance? NATIONAL Insurance is a tax on your earnings, or profits if you're self-employed. These contributions make you eligible for things like the state pension and certain benefits. You'll usually pay National Insurance Contributions (NICs) when you're over the age of 16 and earning a certain amount. For example, if you earn £1,000 a week, you pay nothing on the first £242. Earn over that and you pay 10% on the next £725 - so £72.50. Then you pay 2%o on the rest, so £33, which works out as 66p. For the self-employed rates are slightly different. You can also get something known as National Insurance in some circumstances when you're not working, for example when you have kids and claim certain benefits. NICs are usually taken automatically by your employer and paid to HMRC, so you don't need to do anything. You can see how much NICs you pay on your wage slip. Anyone working for themselves usually has to pay NICs themselves when completing a self-assessment tax return. How to check your NI history If you think you might have been affected, you should speak to HMRC. You can check your National Insurance history and state pension entitlement by logging in to your Government Gateway account online. You can also request a printed National Insurance statement. Steve Webb, partner at pension consultants LCP and former pensions minister, said: "It is vitally important that people keep track of their National Insurance record. "Even where it is not mandatory to pay contributions it can be advantageous to make voluntary contributions to help boost your state pension prospects. "It is worrying if HMRC are routinely refunding such payments and they need to review their processes to avoid the risk that in doing so they are damaging people's retirement prospects."
