Married women’s reduced rate election

The taxpayer appealed against HMRC’s decision that she was due to pay the married women’s reduced rate of National Insurance from 6 April 1975 to 5 April 1978. In that period she was living in German with her husband who was in the army. She did not work while she was there.

HMRC claimed that she made a married women’s election not to pay National Insurance under reg 91 of the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 1975 and that her Department of Health and Social Security record form RF1 contained a note to that effect. However the taxpayer claimed she had not made such an election.

The First-tier Tribunal noted that HMRC was unable to produce any documents to show that the taxpayer had made a reg 91 election but said it had set out a reasonable case to say that she had signed the form. However on the...