National Insurance

You pay Class 2 either via direct debit once a month or every 6 months or you can ask HMRC to bill you twice a year. Your Class 4 contributions will be paid with your Income Tax. You can set up your payments when you register for Self Assessment or change how you pay.

If you’re employed and self-employed

You might be an employee but also do self-employed work. In this case your employer will take care of your Class 1 payments and you have to pay your Class 2 and 4 payments like any other self-employed person. How much you pay when employed and self-employed depends on your combined income from all your jobs.

If you’re a share fisherman

If you’re a share fisherman - ie you’re employed on a British fishing boat but not under a contract of service - you pay a different Class 2 rate. In 2012 to 2013 the rate is £3.30 a week. This contributes towards the basic State Pension, the normal range of benefits for self-employed people, plus Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Reduced rates

There are reduced rates for some married women and widows and if you have a separate, ‘contracted out’ pension scheme through your employer.

Voluntary contributions

You can pay voluntary National Insurance contributions to cover or avoid gaps in your National Insurance record. You may have gaps from times when you didn’t pay contributions, eg you weren’t working and not claiming benefits.

There’s a full list of National Insurance rates on the HMRC website.

Annual profits	Class 2	Class 4
Up to £5,595	£0 but only if you get an exception	£0
£5,595 - £7,604	£2.65 a week	£0
£7,605 - £42,475	£2.65 a week	9% of profits
More than £42,475	£2.65 a week	9% of profits up to £42,475 and 2% over that amount