Introduction to Income Tax and NICs National Insurance contributions
4.2.2 NINO format
All National Insurance numbers have the same format: XX NNNNNN X.
The first two characters are letters. The next six are numbers. The last character is a letter in the range A to D or it is a space.
Temporary NINOs
Some payroll software systems require users to enter a NINO in order to create an employee record, or even to process the employee’s pay. In th ese cases, a temporary number might be used as a matter of expediency until the correct number is available. However, HMRC does not accept temporary National Insurance numbers in the information that employers must send to it. HMRC ’s guidance says that if an employer is unable to obtain the National Insurance number, then it must:
• Leave the National Insurance number field empty, and
• Enter the date of birth and gender in the Full Payment Submission (FPS).
Therefore, it is best to avoid entering temporary National Insurance numbers in a payroll system if this is possible.
Temporary numbers would follow a standard format, which is a six-figure date of birth prefixed by TN and suffixed by either M or F signifying male or female: TN DD MM YY M/F. For example, the temporary number for a woman born on 30 August 1986 would be TN300886F.
4.2.3 Sources of NINOs
It is important that the employer obtains and uses an accurate NINO for each employee because it is used by both the DWP and HMRC for recording purposes.
Sources for locating a NINO for an employee are:
RD3 This is the official notification of a person’s NINO, which is issued automatically to those on the child benefit register shortly before they reach age 16. The RD3 used to be a plastic card but, since 2011, it is a letter.
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• Form P45, form P60 and letters about tax, benefits and pensions These forms and letters might be supplied by a new employee.
CA4139 Formerly CF383 – certificate of reduced rate election (see ‘Reduced rate’ under ‘NICs category (table) letters’ below).
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• Any official correspondence from HMRC, Jobcentre Plus
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