The Social Security (Contributions) (Amendment No. 4) Regulations 2026

Explanatory note

Reproduced verbatim from the instrument as published on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). The note is prepared by the responsible government department and is not part of the instrument itself.

These Regulations amend the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 to provide that where an individual makes a Section 6 or a Section 10 election in relation to their remediable service under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 1975 (“AFPS 1975”) and as a result of that election, new scheme benefits, which are equivalent to the scheme established by the Armed Forces Early Departure Payments Scheme Regulations 2014 benefits, are payable in relation to the individual’s remediable service under the AFPS 1975, those benefits will be disregarded in the calculation of earnings for the purpose of establishing liability to Class 1 National Insurance contributions.

Section 6 and Section 10 elections are statutory elections that allow an individual with remediable service to choose how that service is treated for pension purposes. A Section 6 election allows an individual to elect that their remediable service under AFPS 1975 is to be treated as if it had accrued under the new scheme instead of the legacy scheme. A Section 10 election allows a person to defer the choice about how their remediable service is treated until a later point, typically when the benefits become payable.

A Tax Information and Impact Note was published on 27th October 2021 and is available on the website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/taxation-of-public-service-pension-reform-remedy/taxation-of-public-service-pension-reform-remedy .

The Tax Information and Impact Note remains an accurate summary of the impacts that apply to this instrument.