NIC for the self-employed
If you are self-employed, you may have to pay National Insurance contributions (NIC). For more general information on NIC, visit our National Insurance page. If you want information on how to get a National Insurance number (NINO) or what to do if you have lost or forgotten your NINO, see our National Insurance numbers page.
Content on this page:
Overview
You only pay National Insurance contributions (NIC) between the ages of 16 and state retirement age. You can find out your state pension age by using the calculator on GOV.UK.
There are two different classes of NIC that may be relevant to you if you are self-employed: class 2 and class 4.
From 6 April 2024, self-employed taxpayers no longer need to pay class 2 NIC. However, in certain circumstances you may wish to pay class 2 NIC voluntarily (see the heading Voluntary class 2 NIC below).
Class 4 NIC is calculated on your profits from self-employment once they are more than a certain level (see the heading Class 4 NIC below).
If you are a married woman or widow and you are entitled to pay reduced rate contributions, you do not need to pay class 2 NIC – see the heading Reduced rate contributions below for more information. There are also special rules relating to share fishermen, volunteer development workers, and those engaged as examiners and exam markers, which you can read about on GOV.UK.
In rare cases, income for NIC purposes might include income from property letting (see GOV.UK) or from cryptoassets.
Registering for class 2 and class 4 NIC
When you register with HMRC as self-employed, the registration covers both income tax and National Insurance. You can find out about registration at Self-employment: registering for tax and NIC.
If you do not register your self-employment with HMRC, then any class 2 NIC payments may be rejected by HMRC, or class 2 NIC payments you are treated as having made may not be recorded. It is not sufficient to state on your tax return that you have started self-employment. Instead, you should follow HMRC’s registration process for the self-employed (or advise them separately you have started self-employment), even if you are already completing self assessment tax returns for other reasons.
Class 2 NIC amounts
Class 2 NIC – whether paid on a mandatory or voluntary basis – are a fixed weekly amount: £3.50 per week for 2025/26 and £3.45 per week for 2024/25 (see below for more details).
As mentioned above, from 6 April 2024, self-employed taxpayers no longer need to pay class 2 NIC. However, in certain circumstances you may wish to pay class 2 NIC voluntarily, see our heading Voluntary class 2 NIC below.
The amount of class 2 NIC due is based on the number of weeks in which you are self-employed in the tax year. A week runs from a Sunday to Saturday. If a contribution week straddles two tax years, it is treated as falling in the earlier year.
For example, if your self-employment began on 2 February 2025 and your profits exceed the lower profits limit for that year, you should pay 9 weeks’ class 2 NIC for 2024/25, that is, 9 x £3.45 = £31.05 as there are 9 weeks between 2 February 2025 and 5 April 2025 (that contribution week ends on 5 April 2025).
When class 2 NIC is payable
The rules on class 2 NIC have changed in recent years. Depending on the tax year and your profits for that year, class 2 NIC may:
- be payable voluntarily
- be treated as being paid
- need to be paid
| Tax year | Small profits threshold | Lower profits limit | Profits less than the small profits threshold | Profits between the small profits threshold and the lower profits limit | Profits above the lower profits limit |
| 2021/22 | £6,515 | £9,568 | Class 2 NIC payable voluntarily | Up to and including 2021/22, class 2 NIC is due | Up to and including 2023/24, class 2 NIC is due |
| 2022/23 | £6,725 | £11,908 | From 2022/23, class 2 NIC is treated as being paid | ||
| 2023/24 | £6,725 | £12,570 | |||
| 2024/25 | £6,725 | £12,570 | From 2024/25, class 2 NIC is treated as being paid | ||
| 2025/26 | £6,845 | £12,570 |
If you have multiple trades, your profits are combined for the above purposes.
Under the heading Voluntary class 2 NIC below, we explain some considerations if you are thinking of reducing your self-employment work and your profits fall below the small profits threshold.
Class 4 NIC
Class 4 NIC is based on the level of your taxable self-employed profits. You are only liable to pay class 4 NIC if your taxable profits are over the lower profits limit (see the table above for the amount of the lower profits threshold from 2021/22 to 2025/26).
The NIC is paid in profit bands as follows (figures shown for 2025/26, for earlier tax years see tax and NIC rates and bands):
| Profit band |
Class 4 NIC
|
| Up to £12,570 (lower profits limit) |
nil |
| £12,570 up to £50,270 |
6% |
| Over £50,270 (upper profits limit) |
2% |
Paying class 2 and class 4 NIC
Class 2 NIC and class 4 NIC are calculated and paid along with income tax due, through the self assessment system. If you make payments on account, then your class 4 NIC will be included when calculating the instalments. If you do not pay your tax through payments on account, then class 4 NIC will usually be due on 31 January following the end of the tax year to which it relates. Class 2 NIC is usually paid as part of the payment due on 31 January following the end of the tax year, regardless of whether or not you make payments on account.
If you have to rely on class 2 NIC for entitlement of certain benefits, for example maternity allowance, and you are not treated as having already paid class 2 NIC (see the above heading When class 2 NIC is payable), you may need to pay your class 2 NIC before the self assessment deadline. We explain why under the heading Maternity allowance below.
If you are treated as having paid class 2 NIC (see the above heading When class 2 NIC is payable) then you should ensure your tax return is filed before the self assessment deadline, so that your NIC record can be updated in time for any contributory benefits which rely on that deemed payment.
If you prefer, you can make regular payments of class 2 NIC throughout the tax year, rather than a lump sum payment. This is called a budget payment plan.
Reduced rate contributions
Married women could apply for a reduced rate of contributions before 1977. A subsequent annulment of marriage, or divorce, immediately stops entitlement to paying reduced contributions. If you are not sure whether or not you are entitled to pay at the reduced rate you can enquire on HMRC’s form CF9 (married women) or form CF9A (widows) to find out. The same forms are used to give up your right to pay reduced rate contributions.
Employed and self-employed
Class 2 NIC
If you have not paid enough class 1 NIC to count as a full tax year of contributions towards benefits such as the state pension then you may want to consider paying class 2 NIC voluntarily (see the heading Voluntary class 2 NIC below).
Class 4 NIC
Usually, you will still need to pay class 4 NIC if you are employed and self-employed.
But if you pay a maximum amount of annual NIC by way of class 1, you may not need to pay the full amount of class 4 NIC. If this is the case, then you will have to pay 2% class 4 NIC on all profits above the level of £12,570 (for 2024/25 and 2025/26). Your class 4 NIC liability will be automatically calculated, provided that you either file online or your paper tax return is submitted by the due date (normally 31 October following the end of the tax year), as part of the self assessment process.
State benefits
You can find details of the benefits to which class 2 NIC gives entitlement on our National Insurance page.
Class 4 NIC do not count towards any state benefits.
Voluntary class 2 NIC
You might choose to pay class 2 NIC even if:
- your earnings are below the small profits threshold (as explained under the heading When class 2 NIC is payable above), or
- you are exempt from paying class 2 because you are entitled to reduced rate contributions (as discussed under the heading Reduced rate contributions above).
This is because you may want to protect your eligibility to certain state benefits. Eligibility for some state benefits relies on you having paid a certain amount of class 2 NIC within a defined time.
The two benefits most likely to be affected are maternity allowance and in some specific circumstances, new-style employment and support allowance (ESA). See the headings below on Maternity allowance and Contributions-based employment and support allowance for more information.
If this is the case, you should contact HMRC and make arrangements to pay the class 2 NIC before the self assessment deadline.
The state pension also depends on you having paid or been credited with sufficient NIC over your working life. You need a minimum of 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record and usually a maximum of 35 years (but this can vary and will depend on your circumstances). You can read more about making voluntary class 2 contributions to protect your state pension entitlement on our page National Insurance and the state pension. The example below gives an overview.
Maternity allowance
Entitlement to maternity allowance is based on NIC paid in the 66 weeks before the baby is due. This period is known as the test period.
If you are self-employed then there are different amounts of maternity allowance depending on the number of weeks you have paid class 2 NIC. These are explained on GOV.UK.
For example, if your baby was due in August 2025, then you would have had to pay sufficient contributions in the 66 weeks leading up to that date – broadly from May 2024 to August 2025. Payment of your class 2 NIC for the tax year 2024/25 is not due until 31 January 2026, so these contributions would not have been paid at the time you make a claim for maternity allowance. Although the class 2 contributions are not due until 31 January 2026, you can choose to pay them early.
Paying early contributions may mean you will have paid enough to receive standard rate of maternity allowance. You can contact HMRC for help with this.
If you have not paid your contributions early or have not paid enough, when you make the claim for maternity allowance, you should be given the opportunity to make a lump sum payment of class 2 contributions to enable you to claim the standard rate maternity allowance if appropriate – HMRC will work out how many weeks contributions need to be paid and then issue a bill for this amount.
New-style employment and support allowance
New-style employment and support allowance (ESA), previously called contribution based ESA is paid to people who are unable to work due to illness. Usually, to be paid ESA in the current benefit year (which runs from January to December) you must have paid the following National Insurance contributions:
- in one of the previous two complete tax years before the benefits year, you must have paid 26 weekly contributions, and
- in both of those two previous complete tax years, you must have paid or been credited with 50 weekly contributions.
For example, to claim ESA in December 2025, you must have paid at least 26 weekly contributions in either of the two tax years 2022/23 and 2023/24. In addition, you must have paid or been credited with 50 weekly contributions for both of those tax years.
You should note that there are some exceptions to the above contributions conditions for ESA, there is more information on the conditions to claim ESA on the website.
More information
You can find more information on class 2 National Insurance and class 4 National Insurance in the National Insurance Manual produced by HMRC.
