Class 4 National Insurance

Class 4 National Insurance is one of the two kinds of National Insurance (NI) that you pay if you’re self-employed.

The other kind is Class 2.

You only start paying Class 4 NI once you earn over £8,632 a year (from all your income sources combined).

Class 4 NI is 9% for self-employment profits between £8,632 and £50,000, and 2% on anything above £50,000.

What you need to remember about Class 4 National Insurance:

• you will pay this yourself through a Self Assessment tax return – same as with Income Tax on your self-employment earnings
• this is on top of Class 2 National Insurance
• you must pay Class 4 National Insurance even if you earn under the Personal Allowance
• if you’re also working as an employee and your total earnings are over £8,632 (for example, you work in sales during the day and freelance as a tutor in the evenings), you’ll pay both Class 1, Class 2, and Class 4 NI. You can use this employed and self-employed calculator to see what kind and how much NI you pay.