People can boost future New State Pension payments until April 2025 as summer deadline extended

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The UK Government has announced that taxpayers now have until April 5, 2025 to fill gaps in their National Insurance (NI) record from April 2006 that may increase their State Pension - an extension of nearly two years on the July 31 deadline.Extending the voluntary National Insurance contributions deadline until 2025 means that people have more time to properly consider whether paying voluntary contributions is right for them and ensures no-one need miss out on the possibility of boosting their State Pension entitlements.

The original deadline was extended to July 31, 2023 earlier this year, and tens of thousands of people have taken advantage to pay voluntary contributions to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) since then.

The revised deadline is expected to enable more to do the same.To get the full New State Pension in retirement, you need around 35 years’ worth of NI contributions and to receive any payment from it at all, you need at least 10 years.Buying back missed years can be a good way to boost later-life income as the New State Pension is worth up to £10,600.20 over the 2023/24 financial year - paid every four weeks at £203.85.Commenting on the extension, Victoria Atkins, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said: “People who have worked hard all their lives deserve to receive their State Pension entitlement, and filling gaps in National Insurance records can make a real difference.“With the deadline extended, there is no immediate rush for people to complete gaps in their record and they will have more time to spread the cost.”Laura Trott, Minister for Pensions at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), said: “I am pleased to see so many people taking steps to review their State Pension, which is why we have