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Class 4 National Insurance is a tax you pay when you’re self-employed. It’s one of many types (classes) of national insurance (NI).
Pre-6th April 2024, there was a second type of national insurance paid by the self-employed. Class 2 national insurance. But it’s been scrapped by Jeremy Hunt.
You can now pay class 2 voluntarily if you earn less than the £12,570 threshold for class 4 – and you want to qualify for benefits or fill gaps in your NI record.
You start paying class 4 NI at a rate of 6% from 6 April 2024 once you earn over £12,570 a year from all your combined income sources.
We’re glad you asked. Take a look at the below table to see how it compares with the other classes of National Insurance:
| Employment status | What do I pay? |
| Employed and earning < £123 – but not eligible for National Insurance credits | Class 3 |
| Self-employed with profits < £6,725 | Class 2 or Class 3 (depending on the benefits you want to be eligible for) |
| Self-employed with profits > £6,725 | Class 2 (scrapped from 6 April 2024) |
| You’re employed and have a side hustle but with low earnings and small profits | Contact HMRC on 0300-200-3519 |
| You’re a self-employed examiner, religious minister or have an investment, land or property business | Class 2 or Class 3 (depending on the benefits you want to be eligible for) |
| You live and work abroad | Class 3 – if you’ve lived in the UK for 3 consecutive years/paid 3 years of contributions |
| Unemployed but not claiming benefits | Class 3 |
| A married woman or widow no longer paying reduced rates | Class 3 |
| Living (but not working) abroad | Class 3 – if you’ve lived in the UK for 3 consecutive years/paid 3 years of contributions |
For more information, you can use this employed and self-employed calculator to see how much NI you should pay.
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