6.—(1) Section 13 of the principal Act (contribution conditions and earnings factors) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4).
(2) In subsection (5) (manner in which tables and rules are to be drawn up) after the words “so that in general—” there shall be inserted the following paragraph—
“(a)for any tax year beginning on or after 6th April 1987, the amount of earnings on which primary Class 1 contributions have been paid or treated as paid gives rise, subject to subsection (5A) below, to an earnings factor for that year equal or approximating to the amount of those earnings; and”.
(3) After subsection (5A) there shall be inserted the following subsection—
“(5AA) Regulations may impose limits with respect to the earnings factors which a person may have or be treated as having in respect of any one tax year.”.
(4) After subsection (5B) (duty to maintain and retain records) there shall be inserted the following subsection—
“(5C) Where the Department is satisfied that records of earnings relevant for the purpose of calculating a person’s earnings factors for a tax year beginning on or after 6th April 1987 have not been maintained or retained or are otherwise unobtainable then, for the purpose of determining those earnings factors, it may—
(a)compute, in such manner as it thinks fit, an amount which shall be regarded as the amount of that person’s earnings on which primary Class 1 contributions have been paid or treated as paid, or
(b)take the amount of those earnings to be such sum as it may specify in the particular case.”.
(5) The Earnings Factor Regulations, as in operation for the purpose of determining earnings factors for the tax years beginning with 6th April 1985 and 6th April 1986, shall have effect, and be taken always to have had effect, with the substitution in paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 (which, as amended by regulation 2(3) of the Amending Regulations, provided in certain cases for the aggregation of separate contributions) for the words from “where the values” to “those sums” of the words—
“where, in the case of any two or more separate sums—
(a)the values to be accorded to F (apart from this paragraph) would fall to be ascertained under the same head of paragraph 2(e) above, and
(b)the values to be so accorded to G would fall to be ascertained under the same head of paragraph 2(f) above,
those sums”.
(6) In paragraph (5)—
“the Earnings Factor Regulations” means the Social Security (Earnings Factor) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1979(1); and
“the Amending Regulations” means the Social Security (Earnings Factor) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1985(2).
(7) The amendment by paragraph (5) of a provision contained in regulations shall not be taken to have prejudiced any power to make further regulations revoking or amending that provision, whether in relation to the tax years there mentioned or otherwise.
(8) The Social Security (Earnings Factor) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1988(3) shall have effect, and be deemed always to have had effect, as if the amendment made by paragraph (3) had come into operation before the making of those regulations.