Self-Employed National Insurance in 2026: Class 4 Rates, Class 2 and Your State Pension

If you work for yourself, National Insurance comes in two parts: Class 4, a percentage of your profit, and Class 2, a flat weekly amount that nobody has been forced to pay since April 2024 but that still decides whether a low-profit year counts towards your State Pension. This guide covers both for the 2026-27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027), the year you're earning in now during 2026. You'll see the current rates and limits, how HMRC collects the money, who's exempt, when voluntary Class 2 or Class 3 is worth paying, and worked examples in pounds. Every figure is checked against GOV.UK as of October 2026.

Quick answer

Sole traders and partners pay Class 4 National Insurance of 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above that, through Self Assessment. Class 2 is no longer compulsory: with profits of £7,105 or more it's treated as paid, and below that you can choose to pay £3.65 a week.

• £30,000 profit in 2026-27: Class 4 = £17,430 × 6% = £1,045.80, and no Class 2

• Profit under £7,105? Voluntary Class 2 costs £189.80 for a full year

• Same rates in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

• No Class 4 if you were over State Pension age on 6 April

What self-employed National Insurance is for

National Insurance pays for the State Pension and some benefits, and your contribution record decides how much State Pension you'll get. You need 10 qualifying years on your record to get any new State Pension, and 35 qualifying years for the full rate of £241.30 a week. For self-employed people, two things happen each year. Class 4 raises money based on how much profit you make. Separately, your record either gets a qualifying year or it doesn't, and that's where Class 2 comes in.

The two classes behave very differently. Class 4 is a tax on profit: it doesn't add anything to your State Pension, however much you pay. Class 2 is what used to buy the qualifying year. Since 6 April 2024 the qualifying year comes free once your profit reaches the Small Profits Threshold, which is why many people now pay Class 4 and nothing else. If your profit is lower, the qualifying year isn't automatic, and paying voluntarily is the way to get it.

You only pay self-employed National Insurance if you're running a trade as a sole trader or as a partner in a partnership. If you trade through a limited company, you're the company's employee and director instead: the company runs payroll, Class 1 applies to your salary, and there's no Class 4 on dividends. The sole trader vs limited company comparison explains how that changes the overall bill.

Self-employed National Insurance, 2026-27

6%

Class 4 on profit £12,570–£50,270

2%

Class 4 on profit above £50,270

£7,105

Small Profits Threshold

Class 2 treated as paid at or above this

£3.65 a week

Voluntary Class 2

£18.40 a week

Voluntary Class 3

Class 4 National Insurance rates and limits for 2026-27

Class 4 is charged on your taxable self-employment profit: your income from the trade, less allowable expenses and capital allowances, as reported on your tax return. If you run more than one self-employed business, the profits are added together and the limits apply once. For 2026-27 the bands are:

The limits haven't moved since April 2023: both are frozen in line with the Income Tax personal allowance and higher-rate threshold. The rate did change. The main rate was 9% until 5 April 2024. Two separate cuts, announced in the Autumn Statement 2023 and the Spring Budget 2024, brought it down to 6% from 6 April 2024, and it has stayed there for 2025-26 and 2026-27.

Three practical points catch people out. First, unlike Income Tax, Class 4 has no taper: a sole trader on £120,000 profit still gets the first £12,570 free of Class 4, even though most of their personal allowance has gone. Second, Class 4 is worked out on trading profit only. Wages from a job, rent, pension income, savings and dividends are ignored, so they never push your profit into a higher Class 4 band. Third, a partner pays Class 4 on their own share of the partnership's profit, with their own £12,570 starting point, not on the partnership's total.

Trading losses also count. A loss you carry forward to set against future profits of the same trade reduces your Class 4 profit in the later year too, so keep the loss figures from earlier returns. Your accountant or the tax return software normally does this automatically if the earlier years were filed correctly.

Class 2 National Insurance after the 2024 reform

Before April 2024, every sole trader with profits above the Small Profits Threshold paid a flat Class 2 charge of a few pounds a week, collected through the tax return. That ended on 6 April 2024. Nobody is now required to pay Class 2, but the class itself still exists, and it does two jobs.

If your profit is £7,105 or more for 2026-27, you're treated as having paid Class 2 for the whole year. The year goes on your National Insurance record as a qualifying year, and you pay nothing for it. That applies whether your profit is £7,500 (below the Class 4 starting point) or £75,000.

If your profit is below £7,105, you get no qualifying year from self-employment. You can choose to pay voluntary Class 2 at £3.65 a week, which is £189.80 for a full 52-week year. It's the cheapest way to fill a year on your record. The alternative, voluntary Class 3, costs £18.40 a week, or £956.80 for a year, and only people who can't pay Class 2 normally need it.

The threshold and rate went up for 2026-27. For 2025-26 they were £6,845 and £3.50 a week. So if you're filing your 2025-26 return before 31 January 2027, use those older figures: a profit of £7,000 in 2025-26 earned you a free qualifying year, but the same profit in 2026-27 doesn't, because it's below the new £7,105 threshold.

Two groups have special Class 2 rates set by HMRC: share fishermen pay £4.30 a week and volunteer development workers working abroad pay £6.45 a week. If that's you, the rules differ from the ones below and you should check with HMRC's National Insurance helpline.

Is voluntary Class 2 worth paying?

For most people with a low-profit year and no other way to fill it, yes. Each qualifying year adds about one thirty-fifth of the full new State Pension. At £241.30 a week, that's roughly £6.89 a week, or about £358 a year, for life once you reach State Pension age. A year of voluntary Class 2 costs £189.80, so you'd get your money back in under a year of retirement, and the pension rises each year after that.

Before paying, check whether you already have a qualifying year from something else. You don't need voluntary Class 2 if, in the same tax year, you:

• earned enough from a job to pay or be treated as paying Class 1;
• claimed Child Benefit for a child under 12 (the claim gives National Insurance credits);
• received credits through Universal Credit, Carer's Allowance or similar benefits.

You also gain nothing if you'll already have 35 qualifying years qualifying years by State Pension age, or if your record started before April 2016 and your forecast is already at the full rate. The way to know is to check your State Pension forecast on GOV.UK, which shows your record year by year and whether a gap is worth filling.

Voluntary Class 2 vs Class 3, 2026-27

	Voluntary Class 2	Voluntary Class 3
Weekly rate	£3.65 a week	£18.40 a week
Full year (52 weeks)	£189.80	£956.80
Who can pay	Self-employed with profit under £7,105, and some special cases	Anyone with a gap who meets the conditions
How it's paid	Usually through your Self Assessment return	Separately to HMRC, after checking eligibility
Rough State Pension gained	About £358 a year	About £358 a year

Weekly rate

Voluntary Class 2

£3.65 a week

Voluntary Class 3

£18.40 a week

Full year (52 weeks)

Voluntary Class 2

£189.80

Voluntary Class 3

£956.80

Who can pay

Voluntary Class 2

Self-employed with profit under £7,105, and some special cases

Voluntary Class 3

Anyone with a gap who meets the conditions

How it's paid

Voluntary Class 2

Usually through your Self Assessment return

Voluntary Class 3

Separately to HMRC, after checking eligibility

Rough State Pension gained

Voluntary Class 2

About £358 a year

Voluntary Class 3

About £358 a year

Paying for earlier years

You can normally fill gaps for the past 6 years, and the deadline for each tax year falls on 5 April. GOV.UK's example: you have until 5 April 2032 to pay for 2025-26. If you pay Class 2 for the previous tax year, or Class 3 for one of the previous two tax years, you pay that year's original rate. For years further back, you pay the current 2026-27 rate. So paying sooner can be cheaper.

People working abroad: the April 2026 change

From the 2026-27 tax year, you can't pay voluntary Class 2 for periods abroad any more. That ended a long-standing option for expats and people working overseas. Class 3 is still available, but new applicants need either 10 years of continuous UK residence or 10 years of qualifying years on their record. HMRC kept two exceptions for Class 2: self-employed people treated as working in the UK under a social security agreement, and volunteer development workers. Existing Class 2 payers abroad can apply to switch to Class 3 under the older rules if they apply before 6 April 2027. This change doesn't affect self-employed people who live and work in the UK.

How self-employed National Insurance is collected

You don't pay Class 4 week by week. It's calculated on your Self Assessment tax return, on the self-employment pages, and added to your Income Tax bill. If you choose to pay voluntary Class 2, you normally do that on the same return. The process starts when you register as a sole trader with HMRC, which also sets up your Unique Taxpayer Reference.

From profit to payment

Step 1

Register as self-employed

Step 2

Keep records all year

Step 3

File return by 31 January

Step 4

Class 4 added to bill

plus voluntary Class 2 if chosen

Step 5

Pay by 31 January

Class 4 counts towards payments on account. If your total Self Assessment bill (Income Tax plus Class 4) is £1,000 or more, and less than 80% of your tax was collected at source, you pay two advance instalments towards next year's bill on 31 January and 31 July, each half of the last bill. Voluntary Class 2 isn't included in payments on account; it's paid with the balancing payment. Our guide to payments on account explains how to reduce them if your profit falls.

There's one group that doesn't use Self Assessment for this: examiners, moderators, invigilators and people who set exam questions pay a special Class 4 arrangement through the National Insurance office instead. Ministers of religion who get no salary or stipend, and people who manage investments for themselves without running a business or charging fees, don't pay self-employed National Insurance but can pay voluntarily. Landlords usually don't pay Class 4 on rental income unless letting is run as a business, and should check their position with HMRC.

Who doesn't pay Class 4

HMRC's National Insurance Manual lists three exceptions. You don't pay Class 4 if, at the start of the tax year (6 April):

• you were over State Pension age. If you reach State Pension age during the year, you stay liable for Class 4 for that whole year and stop from the next 6 April;
• you were under 16;
• the profits come to you as a trustee, executor or administrator, in that capacity.

If your profit is £12,570 or less, Class 4 is simply nil, so you don't need any exemption. Being non-resident in the UK for Income Tax also removes Class 4 liability under the contributions regulations, though non-residents' cases depend heavily on the country involved and need HMRC or professional advice.

Worked examples for 2026-27

Here's how the rules play out for four sole traders, none of whom has reached State Pension age. All figures are for 2026-27 and apply anywhere in the UK, because National Insurance isn't devolved.

Aisha, part-time dog walker, £6,000 profit. Her profit is below £12,570, so there's no Class 4. It's also below the £7,105 threshold, so the year isn't a qualifying year. She has no job and no children, so nothing else fills the gap. She ticks the box on her return to pay voluntary Class 2 of £189.80, and the year counts.

Ben, new photographer, £10,000 profit. No Class 4, because profit is under £12,570. But profit is over £7,105, so he's treated as having paid Class 2 and gets a qualifying year at no cost.

Kieran, heating engineer, £42,000 profit. Class 4 is (£42,000 − £12,570) × 6% = £29,430 × 6% = £1,765.80. Class 2 is treated as paid.

Mel, IT contractor, £80,000 profit. Class 4 on the main band: £37,700 × 6% = £2,262. On the upper band: (£80,000 − £50,270) × 2% = £29,730 × 2% = £594.60. Total £2,856.60.

Self-employed vs employed on the same figure

Self-employed National Insurance is cheaper than an employee's Class 1. On £30,000, an employee pays 8% of £17,430, which is £1,394.40, while a sole trader on £30,000 of profit pays £1,045.80, a saving of £348.60. The gap widens up to £50,270, where the difference is £754 (£3,016 against £2,262). And there's no employer's National Insurance on self-employed profit at all. That's one reason HMRC looks closely at whether someone is genuinely self-employed, and why the IR35 rules exist for contractors working through companies.

A side business alongside a job

Jo earns £35,000 from a job and £8,000 profit from weekend wedding photography. Her employer deducts Class 1 from her salary in the normal way. Her self-employed profit of £8,000 is below the £12,570 Class 4 starting point, so she pays no Class 4 at all, even though she pays 20% Income Tax on the £8,000 because her salary has used her personal allowance. Her job already gives her a qualifying year, so she doesn't need voluntary Class 2 either. If her photography profit grew to £20,000, Class 4 would be (£20,000 − £12,570) × 6% = £445.80.

Common mistakes with self-employed National Insurance

• Using last year's threshold. The Small Profits Threshold rose from £6,845 to £7,105 for 2026-27. A profit between the two figures now leaves a gap unless you pay voluntarily.
• Paying voluntary Class 2 when you don't need to. If a job, Child Benefit or a benefit already gives you a qualifying year, the extra payment adds nothing. Check your National Insurance record first.
• Applying Class 4 to all your income. It's on trading profit only, not salary, rent or dividends.
• Forgetting Class 4 in payments on account. Your advance payments include Class 4, so budget for it with the Income Tax. The budget planner helps you set aside a monthly amount.
• Thinking a limited company director pays Class 4. Directors pay Class 1 through payroll; Class 4 is for sole traders and partners.
• Assuming you stop at State Pension age straight away. You stop from the 6 April after you reach it, not on your birthday.
• Expats still paying Class 2. From 2026-27 that option has closed for most people abroad; check whether Class 3 is available to you.

Your National Insurance check for 2026-27

0/6

• Estimate this year's profit after expenses
• Profit under £7,105? Check your record for other credits before deciding on voluntary Class 2
• Profit over £12,570? Set aside 6% of the excess for Class 4
• Check your State Pension forecast on GOV.UK for gaps in earlier years
• Fill any worthwhile gap before its 5 April deadline
• Diary 31 January and 31 July for Self Assessment payments

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Class 4 and Income Tax together

Class 4 is only part of what you pay. Income Tax is charged on the same profit, after your personal allowance of £12,570, at 20%, 40% and 45%. On £30,000 of profit with no other income in England, that's £3,486 of Income Tax plus £1,045.80 of Class 4, about 15% of profit in total. Scotland has different Income Tax bands, but Class 4 is identical. Our guide to calculating self-employed tax works through the full bill at several profit levels.

Allowable expenses lower both taxes at once, so a basic-rate sole trader saves 26p in every pound of genuine business cost (20% Income Tax plus 6% Class 4). Our allowable expenses guide lists what you can claim. Pension contributions are different: personal contributions to a self-employed pension get Income Tax relief but don't reduce Class 4, because Class 4 is worked out on trading profit before personal reliefs.

Official links

• Self-employed National Insurance ratesClass 2 and Class 4 for 2026-27
• Rates and allowances: National InsuranceAll classes, current and previous years
• Voluntary National InsuranceWho can pay, rates and deadlines
• Check your State Pension forecastSee gaps in your record
• Voluntary NI abroad from 6 April 2026Class 2 abroad removed
• NIM24510: Class 4 exceptionsState Pension age, under 16, trustees

What to do next

Work out this year's likely profit and see which line of the table above you fall on. If it's over £12,570, move 6% of the excess into your tax savings alongside Income Tax. If it's under £7,105, check your State Pension forecast before deciding whether to pay voluntary Class 2 on your return. If you haven't told HMRC you're self-employed yet, start with our sole trader registration guide, then use the hourly rate calculator to make sure your prices cover tax and National Insurance.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Class 4 National Insurance rate for 2026-27?

Class 4 is 6% on self-employed profits between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% on profits above £50,270. Nothing is due on the first £12,570. The rates and limits are the same in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and you pay through your Self Assessment tax return alongside Income Tax.

Do I still have to pay Class 2 National Insurance?

No. Since 6 April 2024 nobody has to pay Class 2. If your profits are £7,105 or more for 2026-27, you're treated as having paid it, so the year counts towards your State Pension at no cost. If profits are below £7,105, you can choose to pay voluntary Class 2 at £3.65 a week.

Is voluntary Class 2 National Insurance worth paying?

Often, yes. A full year of voluntary Class 2 for 2026-27 costs £189.80 (52 × £3.65 a week). Each qualifying year adds about 1/35 of the full new State Pension, roughly £358 a year at the £241.30 a week rate, so it can pay back within a year of retirement. It isn't worth it if the year already qualifies through a job, credits or Child Benefit.

How much National Insurance do I pay on £30,000 self-employed profit?

For 2026-27, Class 4 is (£30,000 − £12,570) × 6% = £1,045.80. Class 2 is treated as paid because profit is above £7,105, so there's no Class 2 bill. An employee on a £30,000 salary would pay £1,394.40 in Class 1, so the self-employed person pays £348.60 less.

Do I pay Class 4 National Insurance after State Pension age?

Not if you were over State Pension age at the start of the tax year (6 April). If you reach State Pension age part-way through the year, you stay liable for Class 4 for that whole year and stop from the next 6 April. You also don't pay Class 4 if you were under 16 at the start of the tax year.

If I'm employed and self-employed, do I pay both?

Yes. Class 1 is deducted from your wages through PAYE, and Class 4 is worked out separately on your self-employed profit only. Your salary doesn't use up the £12,570 Class 4 starting point, so a side business with £8,000 profit pays no Class 4, even though the profit is taxed at your Income Tax rate.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 12 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.Self-employed National Insurance rates — HMRC / GOV.UK · accessed 12 October 2026
2. 2.Rates and allowances: National Insurance contributions — HMRC / GOV.UK · accessed 12 October 2026
3. 3.Voluntary National Insurance: rates and deadlines — GOV.UK · accessed 12 October 2026
4. 4.Voluntary National Insurance contributions abroad from 6 April 2026 — HMRC / GOV.UK · accessed 12 October 2026
5. 5.NIM24510 — Class 4 NICs: who is liable: exceptions — HMRC National Insurance Manual · accessed 12 October 2026
6. 6.The new State Pension: what you'll get — GOV.UK · accessed 12 October 2026
7. 7.The new State Pension: eligibility — GOV.UK · accessed 12 October 2026
8. 8.Class 2 National Insurance: what's changing from April 2024 — Association of Taxation Technicians · accessed 12 October 2026
9. 9.Changes to voluntary National Insurance contributions (In Practice, March 2026) — ACCA · accessed 12 October 2026