Overview

You pay National Insurance contributions to qualify for certain benefits and the State Pension.

Who pays National Insurance

You pay mandatory National Insurance if you’re 16 or over and are either:

an employee earning above £242 a week
self-employed and making a profit of £11,908 or more a year

You may be able to pay voluntary contributions to avoid gaps in your NI contributions.

You need a National Insurance number before you can start paying National Insurance contributions.

Employee earning between £123 and £242 a week

Self employed and your profits are between £6,725 and £ 11,908

Your contributions are treated as having been paid to protect your National Insurance record.

What National Insurance is for

National Insurance contributions count towards the benefits and pensions in the table.

Benefit	Class 1: employees	Class 2: self-employed	Class 3: voluntary contributions	Class 4 Contributions
Basic State Pension	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Additional State Pension	Yes	No	No	No
New State Pension	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance	Yes	No	No	Yes
Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Maternity Allowance	Yes	Yes	No	No
Bereavement Support Payment	Yes	Yes	No	No

National Insurance classes

There are different types of National Insurance (known as ‘classes’).

The type you pay depends on your employment status and how much you earn.

National Insurance classes

The class you pay depends on your employment status and how much you earn.

National Insurance class	Who pays
Class 1	Employees earning more than £242 a week and under State Pension age – they’re automatically deducted by your employer
Class 1A or 1B	Employers pay these directly on their employee’s expenses or benefits
Class 2	Self-employed people earning profits of more than £11,908 a year. If you’re earning less than £6,725, you can choose to pay voluntary contributions to fill or avoid gaps in your National Insurance record
Class 3	Voluntary contributions – you can pay them to fill or avoid gaps in your National Insurance record
Class 4	Self-employed people earning profits of £11,908 or more a year

How much you pay – National Insurance from 6th November 2022 to 5th April 2023

Class 1 (paid by employees)
Class 4 (paid by self-employed)
secondary Class 1, 1A and 1B (paid by employers)

Your pay	Class 1 National Insurance rate
£242 to £967 a week (£1,048 to £4,189 a month)	12%
Over £967 a week (£4,189 a month)	2%

You’ll pay less if:

you’re a married woman or widow with a valid ‘certificate of election’
you’re deferring National Insurance because you’ve got more than one job

Employers pay a different rate of National Insurance depending on their employees’ category letters.

How to pay

You pay National Insurance with your tax. Your employer will take it from your wages before you get paid. Your payslip will show your contributions.

If you’re a director of a limited company, you may also be your own employee and pay Class 1 National Insurance through your PAYE payroll.

If you’re self-employed

You pay Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance, depending on your profits. Most people pay both through Self Assessment.

You may be able to pay voluntary contributions to avoid gaps in your National Insurance record if you:

have profits of less than £6,725 a year from your self-employment
have a specific job (such as an examiner or business owner in property or land) and you do not pay Class 2 National Insurance through Self Assessment

If you have gaps and do not pay voluntary contributions, this may affect the benefits you can get, such as the State Pension.

If you have a specific job and you do not pay Class 2 National Insurance through Self Assessment, you need to contact HMRC to arrange a voluntary payment.

If you’re employed and self-employed

You might be an employee but also do self-employed work. In this case your employer will deduct your Class 1 National Insurance from your wages, and you may have to pay Class 2 and 4 National Insurance for your self-employed work.

How much you pay depends on your combined wages and your self-employed work. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will let you know how much National Insurance is due after you’ve filed your Self Assessment tax return.

There are different National Insurance rules for:

company directors
landlords running a property business
share fishermen for example you’re working on a British fishing boat but not under a contract of service

You can apply to HMRC to check your National Insurance record and claim a refund if you think you’ve overpaid.

Self-employed National Insurance rates

You usually pay 2 types of National Insurance if you’re self-employed:

Class 2 if your profits are £6,515 or more a year
Class 4 if your profits are £9,569 or more a year

You work out your profits by deducting your expenses from your self-employed income.

How much you pay

Class	Rate for tax year 2022 to 2023
Class 2	£3.15 a week
Class 4	9.73% on profits between £11,908 and £50,270 2.73% on profits over £50,270

How to pay

Most people pay Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance through Self Assessment.

You must tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) when you become self-employed as a sole trader or partnership.

Special rules for specific jobs

Some self-employed people do not pay National Insurance through Self Assessment, but may want to pay voluntary contributions. These are:

examiners, moderators, invigilators and people who set exam questions
people who run businesses involving land or property
ministers of religion who do not receive a salary or stipend
people who make investments for themselves or others – but not as a business and without getting a fee or commission

When you stop paying

If you’re employed, you stop paying Class 1 National Insurance when you reach the State Pension age.

If you’re self-employed you stop paying:

Class 2 National Insurance when you reach State Pension age
Class 4 National Insurance from 6 April (start of the tax year) after you reach State Pension age