SELF-EMPLOYED GUIDE

Self-employed National Insurance for 2026/27: how much and how to pay.

If you work for yourself, nobody takes National Insurance out of your pay. You work it out through your tax return and pay it with your Income Tax. This guide explains the two classes that apply to sole traders and partners, the 2026/27 figures, and how and when the money reaches HMRC.

Figures for the 2026/27 tax year · Last reviewed 21/10/2026

The two classes that apply to the self-employed

Employees pay Class 1 National Insurance through payroll. Self-employed people deal with two different classes instead, and both are based on profit, not on turnover.

Class 2. A flat weekly amount. For most people with profits above a set level it is treated as paid, so there is nothing to pay, but the year still counts on their National Insurance record.
Class 4. A percentage of profit above a set level. This is the one most self-employed people actually pay.

Profit here means your business income less your allowable expenses. If you have not yet worked out which costs you can deduct, our guide to self-employed expenses is a good place to start, because every pound of expense you are entitled to claim lowers the profit that Class 4 is charged on.

The 2026/27 rates and thresholds

These are the figures GOV.UK gives for the 2026/27 tax year, which runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027.

Class 2 profit level: £7,105 a year. If your profits are £7,105 or more, Class 2 contributions are treated as having been paid to protect your National Insurance record.
Voluntary Class 2: £3.65 a week. If your profits are under £7,105, you do not have to pay anything, but you can choose to pay this voluntary amount.
Class 4 main rate: 6%. Charged on profits over £12,570 up to £50,270.
Class 4 higher rate: 2%. Charged on profits over £50,270.

Profits of £12,570 or less have no Class 4 to pay at all. Class 4 is worked out separately from Income Tax, even though both appear on the same Self Assessment bill.

Worked examples

These examples are made up to show how the bands work. They cover National Insurance only, not Income Tax, and assume a sole trader with a single business and no other earnings.

Profit of £10,000

The profit is above £7,105, so Class 2 is treated as paid and the year counts on the person's record. The profit is below £12,570, so there is no Class 4. The National Insurance bill is £0.

Profit of £30,000

Class 2 is treated as paid. For Class 4, the first £12,570 is not charged. The rest is £30,000 minus £12,570, which is £17,430. At 6%, that is £1,045.80 of Class 4 for the year.

Profit of £60,000

Class 2 is treated as paid. The main band runs from £12,570 to £50,270, which is £37,700. At 6% that is £2,262.00. The profit above £50,270 is £9,730. At 2% that is £194.60. Total Class 4 is £2,262.00 plus £194.60, which is £2,456.60.

Profit of £5,000

The profit is under £7,105, so nothing is due and Class 2 is not treated as paid. The person can choose to pay voluntary Class 2 at £3.65 a week. Over a 52-week year that is £189.80. Whether that is worth doing depends on their wider National Insurance record, which they can check through their personal tax account.

How you pay: through Self Assessment

GOV.UK says most people pay Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance through Self Assessment. There is no separate form or separate bill. In practice it works like this:

Register. Sole traders and partners must tell HMRC when they become self-employed. If you need to send a tax return and have not sent one before, the deadline to register is 5 October after the end of the tax year.
Report your profit. You enter your income and expenses on your tax return. HMRC's calculation works out Class 4, and any voluntary Class 2 you have chosen to pay, alongside your Income Tax.
Pay one bill. The National Insurance is part of your Self Assessment bill. You pay it the same way and by the same dates as your Income Tax.

There is one exception on GOV.UK worth knowing. Examiners, moderators, invigilators and people who set exam questions cannot pay Class 4 through Self Assessment. They need to contact the National Insurance office to arrange payment.

Deadlines for the 2026/27 tax year

Self Assessment deadlines follow the same pattern every year. GOV.UK gives these dates for returns covering the 2025/26 tax year:

Register for Self Assessment: by 5 October 2026, if you have not filed before
Paper return: by 11:59pm on 31 October 2026
Online return: by 11:59pm on 31 January 2027
Payment: by 11:59pm on 31 January 2027

For the 2026/27 tax year, each date moves forward by one year, so the online return and the payment are due by 31 January 2028.

Payments on account include Class 4

Many self-employed people also make payments on account. These are two advance payments towards next year's bill, each usually half of the previous year's tax. They are due by midnight on 31 January and 31 July.

GOV.UK confirms that payments on account include Class 4 National Insurance if you are self-employed. So the Class 4 in your bill is not a one-off. It also shapes your advance payments for the following year.

You do not have to make payments on account if your last Self Assessment bill was under £1,000, or if you already paid more than 80% of your tax outside Self Assessment, for example through a tax code.

A made-up example. Suppose someone's Self Assessment bill is £4,000 in total, made up of Income Tax and Class 4. Each payment on account would usually be £2,000. That means £2,000 due on 31 January and another £2,000 due on 31 July, on top of any balance still owing. In the first year of trading, this can make the January bill much larger than people expect.

Ways to pay HMRC

GOV.UK lists several ways to pay a Self Assessment bill. The time it takes matters, because the money has to reach HMRC by the deadline.

Same or next day: Faster Payments through online or telephone banking, or debit or corporate credit card online
Direct Debit: 3 working days if you have set one up with HMRC before, or 5 working days if you have not
Weekly or monthly: you can pay towards your bill in instalments ahead of the deadline

If a deadline falls on a weekend or bank holiday, the payment must reach HMRC by the last working day before it. That does not apply if you pay by Faster Payments or by card.

Paying voluntary Class 2

If your profits are under £7,105 and you choose to pay voluntary Class 2, it is usually included in your Self Assessment bill. If you do not pay through Self Assessment, GOV.UK says you register with HMRC and it sends you a payment request between September and the end of October. That request includes an 18-digit reference. If it has not arrived by the end of November, you contact the National Insurance helpline.

You can usually pay voluntary contributions for the past 6 tax years, and the deadline is 5 April each year. For example, gaps in the 2025/26 tax year can be filled until 5 April 2032.

Why your records matter

Class 4 is a straight percentage of profit, so the figure is only as good as the books behind it. Two problems come up again and again:

Missed expenses. A cost that never gets recorded makes profit look higher. For someone in the 6% band, every £100 of missed expense means £6 more Class 4, before any Income Tax effect.
A January surprise. If the books are only pulled together in January, there is no time to plan for the balancing payment and the first payment on account landing together.

Keeping records up to date during the year means you can estimate your profit, and so your Class 4, well before the bill arrives. It also helps with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, which brings in quarterly updates for many sole traders. For the basics of keeping books as a sole trader, see our self-employed accounting guide, and our guide on cash basis or traditional accounting explains how profit is measured.

Quick checklist

Have you told HMRC you are self-employed?
Do you know roughly what your profit will be for 2026/27?
Is it above £7,105, so Class 2 is treated as paid?
Is it above £12,570, so Class 4 applies at 6%, or above £50,270, where 2% applies?
Have you put money aside for 31 January, including any payment on account?
If your profit is low, have you checked whether voluntary Class 2 would help your record?