No errors were made in relation to class 3 contributions

The taxpayer’s wife (R) died a few days after reaching state pension age. She had previously paid class 3 voluntary National Insurance contributions of £2 236 to ensure that she would be entitled to the full state pension. The taxpayer who was also his late wife’s executor applied for repayment of those contributions but HMRC refused.

The taxpayer appealed.

The First-tier Tribunal referred to the telephone call between R and a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) helpdesk adviser. The taxpayer said that the adviser had made errors in not telling R that the deadline for making the contributions was April 2023 and in explaining that they were not refundable.

The tribunal noted that at one point HMRC told the taxpayer that he could not even make a claim for a refund and it was only after he raised the matter with the adjudicator that HMRC accepted that...