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Class 2 NIC refunds made in error – Action to take

Class 2 NIC refunds made in error

Class 2 National Insurance contributions are flat-rate contributions which for 2023/24 and earlier tax years are payable by the self-employed where their profits exceed the relevant trigger threshold. For 2023/24 and 2022/23, the liability to pay Class 2 contributions arose where profits exceeded the lower profits threshold (set at £12,570 for 2023/24). For those years, … Read more

Will paying voluntary NICs boost your pension?

Pension pot - will paying voluntary NICs boost your pension?

To qualify for a full state pension, you need 35 qualifying years. You can earn these through paying National Insurance contributions or being awarded National Insurance credits. If you will not have sufficient qualifying years for a full state pension when you reach state pension age, you can ‘buy’ additional qualifying years through the payment … Read more

National Insurance landscape for 2023/24

national insurance

As far as National Insurance was concerned, the 2022/23 tax year was a tricky one featuring in-year changes to the primary threshold and in-year changes to the Class 1, 1A, 1B and 4 rates. This resulted in some strange numbers, with average rates applying for the purposes of Class 1A, Class 1B and Class 4 … Read more

Changes to National Insurance for the self-employed

Increase in Class 2 NICs and impact on self-employed

If their profits are high enough, the self-employed pay two classes of National Insurance contribution – Class 2 and Class 4. Class 2 contributions are flat rate contributions of £3.15 per week for 2022/23. It is the payment of Class 2 contributions that enables a self-employed earner to build up entitlement to the state pension … Read more

National Insurance changes from July 2022

National Insurance

Although the National Insurance rates and thresholds for 2022/23 had already been set, at the time of the Spring Statement in March 2022, the Chancellor announced increases in the primary threshold which would align the starting point for National Insurance with the personal allowance from 6 July 2022. However, as the increase does not take … Read more

Identifying NIC increases on a payslip

National Insurance Contributions

For 2022/23 only, the rates of Class 1 (employer and employee) National Insurance contributions are increased by 1.25 percentage points, along with the rates of Class 1A, Class 1B and Class 4 contributions. The NIC increases are a temporary increase pending the introduction of the Health and Social Care Levy from 6 April 2023. The … Read more

Employed? What the forthcoming National Insurance increases will mean for you

Forthcoming National Insurance increases

To help meet the costs of health and adult social care, a new levy, the Health and Social Care Levy, is introduced from 6 April 2023. Payment of the levy, which is set at the rate of 1.25% of qualifying earnings, is linked to the payment of National Insurance contributions. Prior to the introduction of … Read more

National Insurance contributions for 2021/22

national insurance

The 2020/21 tax year starts on 6 April 2021. From that date, new thresholds apply for National Insurance purposes. Employees and Employers Employees pay primary Class 1 National Insurance contributions on their earnings, while secondary Class 1 contributions are payable by their employees. Employees come within the ambit of Class 1 National Insurance contributions once … Read more

How do Class 4 National Insurance contributions work?

class 4 NIC

The self-employed pay two classes of National Insurance contributions – Class 2 and Class 4. Class 2 contributions are weekly flat-rate contributions which provide the mechanism by which the self-employed build up their entitlement to the state pension and certain contributory benefits. By contrast, Class 4 contributions are based on profits from the self-employment and … Read more