I just want to pay NI.

choochmunk

Hey MSE gang,

I am relatively new to the world of self employment, trading as a sole trader and running a fledgling business of 2 years.

I have set up my HMRC account online some time ago. I recently received a reminder to submit a tax return, however after answering a questionnaire on the HMRC site regarding whether I did indeed need to submit, the results stated I did not (my earnings are tiny).
So now To my question, how on earth do I pay my National insurance contributions?
I have trawled the site and made phone calls (an hour of my life I won't get back) all to no avail. It appears the only way to pay NI IS via submitting a tax return, which as I've said I apparently don't need to do!

Have I missed something?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA - Jay.

Dazed_and_confused

You appear to want to have your cake and eat it.

But maybe you could clarify what class of National Insurance you would like to pay? 1, 2, 3 or 4?

Answer that and we will be able to point you in the right direction. Even if you don't like the answer.

00ec25

yes you have missed something, the bit where it says: you categorically MUST submit a tax return if the only reason for doing so is to enable you to pay class 2 NI (and you are not one of the categories expressly excluded from doing so)
https://www.gov.uk/pay-class-2-national-insurance

presumably your profits are below the mandatory class 2 threshold, so a tax return is required to pay them

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions

there is a box on the tax return you tick to say you wish to pay class 2 because if your profits are low you won't automatically be given the "option" to pay it

00ec25

Dazed_and_confused wrote: »

You appear to want to have your cake and eat it.

But maybe you could clarify what class of National Insurance you would like to pay? 1, 2, 3 or 4?

Answer that and we will be able to point you in the right direction. Even if you don't like the answer.

on this one dazed you are on the wrong line of attack

perfectly acceptable to get a full year's state pension credit by voluntarily paying class 2 even if your self employment is "somewhat" unsuccessful in terms of its profitability

Dazed_and_confused

I appreciate that, just wanted to be certain the op was talking about Class 2 not Class 3 (mentioning 1 and 4 was a bit ott to be fair )

choochmunk

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comprehensive answer.
I will submit a return so as to pay the Class 2 NI.

I don't as a rule post in forums as you can virtually guarantee someone will post a reply to attempt to rile the OP. So again thank you.

Dazed_and_confused

Happy to help.

But remember we have no idea of your age or State Pension position so whether paying Class 2 National Insurance is a worthwhile thing to do is another matter.

A significant number of people posting on here are under the mistaken impression they need 35 years National Insurance contributions to qualify for the maximum new State Pension.