NI back payments – claim in 2025 German tax return?

[john_b]

In March 2025, I made voluntary back payments to UK National Insurance Contributions (NICs) in order to fill gaps in my UK pension record.

The total amount was just under £3K and was paid before the deadline to HMRC.

The payment covered multiple years retrospectively, from 2006 to 2024, and was solely intended to secure additional entitlements within the UK state pension system.

My question is how this payment should be treated for tax purposes in Germany:

• Does this qualify as deductible pension contributions under §10 EStG (comparable to contributions to the German statutory pension scheme)?
• If so, is it fully deductible or only partially?
• If not, what is the reasoning, particularly in light of EU coordination of social security systems?

It is also important to clarify the timing: the payment was made in 2025 but relates to multiple previous years. Should it be fully considered in the year of payment, or does a different treatment apply?

I have sent this issue to my tax advisor for their comments, but am curious if anyone here has a similar experience to share and thoughts on how to declare this in the 2025 tax return....

[yesterday]

As far as I understand ....

yes, it does qualify as deductible pension contributions.

I am not sure, but I think its fully deductible. I would expect will will be deductible in the TAX year that you paid the backlog, from your German TAX.

To be honest, I never really applied to get this TAX back as I was only paying about 140 pounds each year, so the saving was not big enough for me to bother.

I guess maybe you also heard that Tony Blair, is calling for the triple lock to be abolished, as many other people are, particularly the young ones, the UK pension system is in deep negative at the moment ( much like the German one ), so the benefit's of the UK pension may not be so good in the future, as it is now.

[PandaMunich]

Please read: viewtopic.php?p=4188#p4188

1. Yes.
2. Fully, i.e. 100%.
3. In the year you paid them, i.e. 2025, because of the Abflussprinzip of § 11 (2) EStG: https://dejure.org/gesetze/EStG/11.html

[Eric7]

I did the same last year, but paid just over €12k to catch up quite a few years before the deadline.
IIRC, that is still below the threshhold of what is claimable in a single year.
I had to contact them again for them to send me a receipt which I could actually pass on to my accountant, but that came quickly.

Any party wanting to reduce/limit the state pension has to be wary of the power of the grey vote!

[GaryC]

I have heard people saying that if you claim a deduction in this way then the UK State pension may become taxable in Germany. Apparently AI appears to back this notion up. But then for AI, crap in gives bigger crap out.

I don't hold to this view at all as the DTA is quite clear at Article 17(2) that the state pension is taxable only in the country from which it's paid and I see no override to that. However, I would welcome Panda's thoughts on how wrong those people are...

[PandaMunich]

They're wrong.
Which country gets to tax it is governed by the double taxation agreement.

[GaryC]

Thanks. That was my reply to them as well but good to have your thoughts too.