Voluntary National Insurance for Self Employed Low Earner. Handholding needed please!

Tunstallstoven

Hi all

I'm sorry to have to come and ask for help, but my eyes go fuzzy and my brain clouds over when it comes to stuff like this!

I've been self-employed since Sept 2025. I'm well under the threshold to pay through self assessment (I think! - I've earned under £2,000) so as I understand it I can pay voluntarily.

If that all sounds right, I'm not sure what happens next. The when, where and how of paying…

If anyone could help it would be a massive help and very much appreciated.

Many thanks :)

LITRG

Hi Tunstallstoven

There is information on our website about how you pay Class 2 National Insurance : https://www.litrg.org.uk/working/self-employment/national-insurance-self-employed#7 Hope this helps,

Tunstallstoven

Thank you so much.

It was helpful but still leaves me unsure of a few things, such as:

• Can I pay it in a lump sum?
• What's the earliest I can pay it?
• What's the latest I can pay it?
• How do I make the payment?

Also, there's a part that says: “The amount of class 2 NIC due is based on the number of weeks in which you are self-employed in the tax year." In my work, on some weeks I'd work a day or two but on others I wouldn't work any days.

• Do I need to pay anything for the weeks I did not work?
• If I do not pay for those weeks, have will I know what effect that will have on whether I have paid enough to qualify for the year?

Many thanks

uknick

The easiest way to pay is through self assessment. So, you'll need to register for that. But, if you have earnt £2,000 since September 2025, why are you not already registered? If your profit for the tax year is over £1,000 you need to register.

I have claimed Class 2 for a number of years as my income is also very low.

I work as a part time accountant. Some days I work loads of hours, others not at all. When you complete your self assessment just tick the box asking if you want to pay Class 2 voluntarily. As far as I can recall the box on the form is just a "do you want to pay or not" tick box. There is no mention about how many weeks you have worked or wish to pay for.

But, my tax return is always done for the full tax year as I receive income each month as a standing charge. Having said that, I assume you are trading for the full year, you just don't get work every week.

Now, to try to answer your questions;

• Can I pay it in a lump sum? You can pay it up to 6 years after the tax year ends. So I assume as long as you tell HMRC what year you are paying for a lump sum is the easiest way.
• What's the earliest I can pay it? On the 6 April for the previous tax year if you can get your self assessment done that quick. But, I see no advantage in that as it isn't due to be paid until the 31st January as for income tax.
• What's the latest I can pay it? For backdated years, 6 years. For current year as above.
• How do I make the payment? I do it with my income tax through the SA system.

Tunstallstoven

Thanks @uknick - that's all really helpful.

Yes, I believe I am already registered for self-assessment. I was given a UTR. So perhaps I should log into the government gateway and have another look about.

And yes, I've been trading since September but not getting work every week. So by the sounds of it all weeks still count?

So if you don't mind, I'll just summarise the answers as they relate to me to check I've understood… For the 2025/26 tax year, I can complete my self assessment anytime from 6th April 2026 to January 31st 2027. On the SA there will be an option to say I want to pay voluntary class 2 NIC. And I can pay it as part of the SA. Or any time for up to 6 years after (although I'm unsure how I would then pay it as I would have already done the SA).

Hope I'm not too far off the mark!

I do have another question though please. Do I just calculate the sum owed myself? Or do I have to wait to be told how much I have to pay?

Many thanks for your help and patience

uknick

You need to pay any, and all, tax owed by 31 January, not just submit the return.

If you're doing an online self assessment the process is;

Register to use the HMRC Gateway, which you appear to have done

Complete Self Assessment

Look at system generated calculation to see how much tax you owe. (I tend to do a sense check with my own calculations to check I've completed the return correctly)

Pay tax through your gateway.

Usually you get text/email reminders from HMRC about various due dates such as SA submission dates and payment due dates.

Tunstallstoven

Thanks for your reply, but I am under the tax threshold and so do not need to pay tax.

It's just the voluntary NI contributions I need to find out about…

Thanks again :)

uknick

I know it's only the NI you're interested, but that is still the best way you pay the Class 2 NI. At least it's how I do it as I find it the easiest & quickest way.

I'm sure there's an offline way of doing it, but that doesn't leave you a clear audit trail if they screw up recording your payment. They've screwed up correctly recording my 2022-23 Class 2 payment but as it's all recorded online under my personal account it will be sorted in the end as they can't deny having received the money.

How long they take to sort it is another question, but as I've about 3 years to state pension date one hopes that is long enough.

Tunstallstoven

Ha ha - hopefully three years should do it!

OK, thanks, I'll follow that procedure for NI then.

So, does it calculate the amount of NI due during the SA process in the same way it calculates the tax due (as you described previously)?

uknick

Yes.

In addition, the final amount due also takes into account any weeks you get credits for, such as claiming carer's allowance.

Tunstallstoven

That's good to know as I claimed JSA during this tax year as well… If all's well's the calculation should hopefully be nil pois!