National Insurance and social security—new Brexit transition guidance from HMRC

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has published new guidance on National Insurance (NI) and social security contributions for UK and EU workers to help stakeholders prepare for the end of the transition period and beyond. Further new and updated guidance may be issued, so stakeholders are advised to monitor these pages for updates.

HMRC has published the following guidance to help stakeholders prepare for the end of the transition period:

• National Insurance for workers from the UK working in the EEA or Switzerland from 1 January 2021
• Social security contributions for workers coming to the UK from the EEA or Switzerland from 1 January 2021

The guidance on NI provides an overview of when workers from the UK working in the EEA or Switzerland will have to pay UK NI contributions, when they will need to pay social security contributions in their country of work and how they can apply to HMRC for a certificate or document.

The guidance on social security contributions for EEA or Swiss workers coming to the UK covers when the workers will need to continue paying social security contributions in the EU, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland or Lichtenstein. Guidance is broken down for each country, and an overview of how to apply for a certificate or document from the UK is also provided.

Both the UK and EU are keeping their Brexit-related guidance under review and re-issuing stakeholder notices where necessary or appropriate to aid preparation for the end of transition and beyond. Not all changes or updates are substantive. For instance, in some cases, the detail of the guidance may not have changed, but the context, timescales or status of the arrangements outlined may have been updated. In other cases, guidance may contain placeholders for more detail (e.g., pending implementation of relevant legislation, regulatory changes, fees or systems). The guidance will be updated as those arrangements are finalised.

Issue Date: 28 December 2020

Issuing Department: HM Revenue and Customs

Jurisdiction: England; Northern Ireland; Scotland; Wales; European Union; Iceland; Norway; Switzerland

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