The Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001

Case F— Residence and Persons Abroad

Condition as to residence or presence in Great Britain or Northern Ireland

145.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), for the purposes of section 1(6) of the Act (conditions as to residence or presence in Great Britain for liability or entitlement to pay Class 1 or Class 2 contributions, liability to pay Class 1A or Class 1B contributions or entitlement to pay Class 3 Contributions)(1) the conditions as to residence or presence in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case requires) shall be—

(a) as respects liability of an employed earner to pay primary Class 1 contributions in respect of earnings for an employed earner’s employment, that the employed earner is resident or present in Great Britain or Northern Ireland(or but for any temporary absence would be present in Great Britain or Northern Ireland) at the time of that employment or is then ordinarily resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be);

(b) as respect liability to pay secondary Class 1 contributions, Class 1A contributions or Class 1B contributions that the person who, but for any conditions as to residence or presence in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be and including the having of a place of business in Great Britain or Northern Ireland), would be the secondary contributor or the person liable for the payment of Class 1B contributions (in this Case referred to as “the employer”) is resident or present in Great Britain or Northern Ireland when such contributions become payable or then has a place of business in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be), so however that nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the employer paying the said contributions if he so wishes;

(c) as respects entitlement of a self-employed earner to pay Class 2 contributions, that that earner is present in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) in the contribution week for which the contribution is to be paid;

(d) as respects liability of a self-employed earner to pay Class 2 contributions, that the self-employed earner is ordinarily resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be), or, if he is not so ordinarily resident, that before the period in respect of which any such contributions are to be paid he has been resident in Great Britain (as the case may be) for a period of at least 26 out of the immediately preceding 52 contribution weeks under the Act, the Social Security Act 1975(2) or the National Insurance Act 1965(3) or under some or all of those Acts.

(e) as respects entitlement of a person to pay Class 3 contributions in respect of any year, either that—

(i) that person is resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) throughout the year,

(ii) that person has arrived in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) during that year and has been or is liable to pay Class 1 or Class 2 contributions in respect of an earlier period during that year,

(iii) that person has arrived in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) during that year and was either ordinarily resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) throughout the whole of that year or became ordinarily resident during the course of it, or

(iv) that person not being ordinarily resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be), has arrived in that year or the previous year and has been continuously present in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) for 26 complete contribution weeks, entitlement where the arrival has been in the previous year arising in respect only of the next year.

(2) Where a person is ordinarily neither resident nor employed in the United Kingdom and, in pursuance of employment which is mainly employment outside the United Kingdom by an employer whose place of business is outside the United Kingdom (whether or not he also has a place of business in the United Kingdom) that person is employed for a time in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) as an employed earner and, but for the provisions of this paragraph, the provisions of sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (1) would apply, the conditions prescribed in that sub-paragraph and in sub-paragraph (b) of that paragraph shall apply subject to the proviso that—

(a) no primary or secondary Class 1 contribution shall be payable in respect of the earnings of the employed earner for such employment;

(b) no Class 1A contribution shall be payable in respect of something which is made available to the employed earner or to a member of his family or household by reason of such employment; and

(c) no Class 1B contribution shall be payable in respect of any PAYE settlement agreement in connection with such employment, after the date of the earner’s last entry into Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) and before he has been resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) for a continuous period of 52 contribution weeks from the beginning of the contribution week following that in which that date falls.

(3) Where a person to whom paragraph (1)(a) would otherwise apply is not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom and is not a person to whom the provisions of paragraph (2) apply, the proviso in paragraph (2) shall nevertheless apply if either—

(a) during a vacation occurring in a course of full-time studies which that person is pursing outside the United Kingdom, that person is gainfully employed under a contract of service in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) in temporary employment of a nature similar or related to that course of studies; or

(b) there exists between him and some other person outside the United Kingdom a relationship comparable with the relationship between an apprentice and his master in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) and that person is gainfully employed under a contract of service in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) in employment which began before he attained the age of 25 and which is of a nature similar or related to the employment under the said relationship outside the United Kingdom.

Payment of contributions for periods abroad

146.—(1) Where an earner is gainfully employed outside the United Kingdom, and that employment, if it had been in Great Britain or Northern Ireland, would have been employed earner’s employment, that employment outside the United Kingdom shall be treated as employed earner’s employment for the period for which under paragraph (2)(a) contributions are payable in respect of the earnings paid to the earner in respect of that employment provided that—

(a) the employer has a place of business in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be);

(b) the earner is ordinarily resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be); and

(c) immediately before the commencement of the employment the earner was resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be).

(2) Where, under paragraph (1), the employment outside the United Kingdom is treated as an employed earner’s employment, the following provisions shall apply in respect of the payment of contributions—

(a) primary and secondary Class 1 contributions shall be payable in respect of any payment of earnings for the employment outside the United Kingdom during the period of 52 contribution weeks from the beginning of the contribution week in which that employment begins to the same extent as that to which such contributions would have been payable if the employment had been in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be);

(b) subject to regulation 148, any earner by or in respect of whom contributions are or have been payable under sub-paragraph (a) shall be entitled to pay Class 3 contributions in respect of any year during which the earner is outside the United Kingdom from and including that in which the employment outside the United Kingdom begins until that in which he next returns to Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be);

(c) Class 1A contributions and Class 1B contributions shall be payable in respect of the period specified in sub-paragraph (a).

Class 2 and Class 3 contributions for periods abroad

147.—(1) Subject to regulation 148, a person (other than a person to whom regulation 146(2)(a) applies) may, notwithstanding the provisions of regulation 145(1)(c) and (e), if he so wishes and if he satisfies the conditions specified in paragraph (3) below pay contributions in respect of periods during which he is outside the United Kingdom as follows—

(a) in respect of any contribution week throughout which he is gainfully employed outside the United Kingdom in employment which is not employment in respect of earnings from which Class 1 contributions are payable, he may, if immediately before he last left Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be), he was ordinarily an employed earner or a self-employed earner, pay a contribution as a self-employed earner;

(b) in respect of any year which includes a period during which he is outside the United Kingdom he may pay Class 3 contributions.

(2) A person who is gainfully employed outside Great Britain and falls within the provisions of paragraph (1)(a) shall for the purposes of that paragraph be treated as being outside the United Kingdom for any period during which he is temporarily in the United Kingdom.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), the conditions referred to in paragraph (1) are that—

(a) the person has been resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) for a continuous period of not less than three years at any time before the period for which the contributions are to be paid;

(b) there have been paid by or on behalf of that person contributions of the appropriate amount—

(i) for each of 3 years ending at any time before the relevant period,

(ii) for each of 2 years ending at any time before the relevant period and, in addition, 52 contributions under either or both the Social Security Act 1975 or the National Insurance Act 1965, or

(iii) for any one year ending at any time before the relevant period and, in addition, 104 contributions under either or both the Social Security Act 1975 or the National Insurance Act 1965, or

(c) there have been paid by or on behalf of that person 156 contributions under either or both the Social Security Act 1975 or the National Insurance Act 1965.

(4) In paragraph (3)—

“contributions of the appropriate amount” means contributions under the Act the earnings factor derived from which is not less than 52 times the lower earnings limit for the time being for primary Class 1 contributions;

“contributions under either or both the Social Security Act 1975 or the National Insurance Act 1965” means contributions of any class under section 4, 7 or 8 of the Social Security Act 1975 or section 3 of the National Insurance Act 1965 in respect of any period; and

“the relevant period” means the period for which it is desired to pay the Class 2 or Class 3 contributions specified in paragraph (1).

Conditions of payment of Class 2 or Class 3 contributions for periods abroad

148.  Entitlement to pay Class 2 or Class 3 contributions under regulations 146 and 147 shall be subject to the following conditions—

(a) that the payment is made within the period specified in regulation 48(3)(b)(i); and

(b) that the payment is made only to the extent to which it could have been made if the contributor had been present in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may by) and otherwise entitled to make it.

(1)

Section 1(6) was amended by paragraph 56(3) of Schedule 7 to the Social Security Act 1998 (c. 47).

(2)

1975 c. 14.

(3)

1965 c. 51.