Prescription of unpaid INPS contributions, this is when they are lost

Unpaid social security contributions are also subject to statute of limitations.
This means that after a certain period of time, the INPS can no longer request contributions not paid by the employer or by self-employed workers, nor can the employee to whom they refer be able to request recognition of them.
Knowing the limitation periods for contributions is therefore very important to avoid the risk of not being able to reach the minimum requirement for retirement.
On the other hand, it could happen that by consulting the contribution statement you realize that there are periods worked but uncovered by contributions, therefore wondering what to do to resolve it.
It could depend on an INPS error, or on the fact that the employer has not fulfilled its obligations.
In both cases it is important to take action before the statute of limitations for social security contributions kicks in; It must be underlined, however, that even if the contributions have become statute-barred, it is still possible to recover them and we will explain how below.
Limitation of social security contributions When social security contributions become statute of limitations What happens if contributions become statute of limitations How to interrupt the limitation period Social security contributions for self-employed workers Prescription of tax bills for unpaid contributions How to recover unpaid contributions Establishment of a lifetime annuity When social security contributions expire in prescription In legal language, prescription means the extinction of a right if the owner does not exercise it for the period determined by law.
The limitation periods are variable and in the specific case of social security contributions it is 5 years.
The limitation periods, in this case, are calculated from the moment in which the contributions should have been paid.
Once 5 years have expired, without the holder requesting the unaccredited contributions, these will be lost and will no longer have any use in the social security context.
However, where the failure to credit the contributions depends on a non-compliance on the part of the employer and the employee has in the meantime filed a complaint against him, the limitation period is extended to 10 years.
It will therefore be the INPS who will have to proceed with their recovery before they are lost due to prescription.
What happens if the contributions become statute-barred Avoiding the statute of limitations on contributions is very important.
In fact, once the limitation period has been reached, unpaid social security contributions cannot be requested by the INPS, nor can the debtor pay them spontaneously (in fact, it is not possible to waive the limitation period).
This means that the periods worked will not be considered for the purposes of the pension, neither for the acquisition of the right nor for the calculation of the amount.
However, if social security contributions become statute-barred, the employee is entitled to compensation for damages from the employer who failed to pay them.
How the limitation period is interrupted The limitation period can be interrupted by events which, once occurred, start the counting of the terms again from the beginning.
To interrupt the prescription of social security contributions from employees, the notified documents must have the following requirements: come exclusively from the INPS, since the documents coming from the Labor Inspectorate, nor the worker's reports, have no interruptive effect; report the personal data of the worker who reports; report the amount of unpaid contributions and the period to which the non-payment refers; report the sanctions that can be imposed for the violation; report the details of the report.
Prescription of social security contributions for self-employed workers.
As regards the contributions due by artisans, traders and self-employed workers (registered in the separate management of the INPS), the limitation period is always 5 years.
In this regard, with circulars no.
104/1996 and 69/2005, with reference to the category of artisans and traders, the INPS reiterated the principle according to which for the contribution due on the portion of income exceeding the taxable minimum, the prescription begins to run from the date on which the The Revenue Agency communicates to the Institute the income produced by the person required to pay the relevant social security contribution.
Consequently, the limitation period runs from the day on which the aforementioned contributions had to be paid according to current legislation and, therefore, from when the balance resulting from the tax return for the reference year had to be paid.
Prescription of tax bills for unpaid contributions After notification of the debit notice by INPS, in order not to incur the prescription of INPS social security contributions, the Revenue-Collection Agency always has 5 years to notify the debtor of a tax bill tax with the request for payment of the unpaid social security contribution, including penalties and interest.
Even the Court of Cassation in United Sections with sentence no.
23397 of 17 November 2016 specified that the prescription of a tax bill containing the request for payment of social security contributions expires in 5 years (and not in 10).
In fact, failure to challenge a collection act does not lead to the effect of lengthening the limitation period from short to ordinary; this applies when we talk about credits from social security institutions, or credits relating to State, tax and extra-tax revenues, as well as credits from regions, provinces, municipalities and other local authorities as well as administrative sanctions for the violation of tax regulations or administrative.
How to recover unpaid contributions If the statute of limitations has not yet expired, it will be possible to request credit for contributions not present on your contribution account statement.
For example, if you are sure that it is an error made by INPS and that your employer has recognized what you are owed, then simply report the deficiency to INPS and ask for your position to be regularised.
In this case you can open a contribution report via the electronic method available in the "Online Appeals" area ("Citizen Services" section) of the INPS website.
Naturally, before making the report you must be sure that you have all the necessary documents to support your thesis, so as to demonstrate that the disputed error was actually committed.
In the event that the contributions have not been paid by the employer himself then the employee can report it and sue him asking for regularization and compensation for damages.
In this case the prescription times – as anticipated – are extended to 10 years.
However, once this deadline has expired, the worker will lose all rights to contributions not paid by the employer, even if the Court rules in his favor.
Therefore, in the event of a positive ruling, the injured employee will have the right to compensation but not to the regularization of his/her contribution position.
Establishment of a life annuity However, there is a way to avoid completely losing the unpaid and statute-barred contributions: the establishment of a life annuity.
With this instrument the employee is granted an annuity which has the function of compensating the amount lost due to non-payment of contributions.
To calculate the amount of the pension, therefore, it is necessary to make the difference between what would have been due if the missing contributions had been regularly credited and the amount of the current pension.
The annuity can be paid both by the employer, who will thus remedy the damage caused to the employee, and by the injured worker, whether still working or retired.