Self-employed: how to pay National Insurance

While full-time employees have their income tax and National Insurance contributions (NI) paid through their employers (called the PAYE system), as a self-employed you have to calculate and pay them yourself.

Here is how you do it.

If you pay self-employed National Insurance through Self Assessment

Most self-employed people pay NI as part of their Self Assessment tax bill.

You need to pay National Insurance when you earn more than £12,570 per year:

🚨 From 6 April 2024 (the 24/25 tax year onwards), Class 2 National Insurance is being scrapped . If you’re under the threshold and pay them voluntarily to qualify for benefits, you’ll still be able to do so.

Class 4