Completing National Insurance record when not working.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Chomeur said:

OK, you have to contact the newly self-employed helpline to request a payment request (https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions). Which is what I did, and then they wrote to me saying "Could you please tell us what the payment is for as Class 2 is now collected through your end of year self-assessment" which contradicts what is on the website. Time for a complaint, I think.

Or maybe read the explanatory notes for the Self Assessment return

If your combined receipts from self-employment (excluding Rent-a-Room trades) and certain miscellaneous income (read page TRG 8, Box 17 Other taxable income) are no more than £1,000 they are exempt from tax and do not need to be reported on a tax return unless the receipts are from a connected party or they include a Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant.
If your income is no more than £1,000, you may choose to complete the ‘Self-employment’ pages if:
• your allowable expenses are higher than your turnover and you want to claim relief for the loss or carry forward a loss to be used against future profits
• you expect your turnover to exceed £1,000 in the next tax year
• you want to voluntarily pay Class 2 National Insurance Contributions to build entitlement to contributory benefits like the State Pension
• you want to preserve your record of self-employment, for example to support an application for Maternity Allowance
• you would like to claim Tax-Free Childcare based on your self-employment income
• you’re a subcontractor and want to claim back tax deducted under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS)