National Insurance contributions

How do I get here?

There are several ways to open the National Insurance contributions window.

  • Expand Earned income on the navigator and double-click to open the National Insurance contributions window.
  • From within the Tax Return Viewer, choose Edit National Insurance contributions from the Tasks pane.
  • If you have a self-employment, partnership or, on a copy return, Lloyd's underwriters pages, and if the taxpayer is less than State Pension Age in the previous tax year or earlier, click the NIC section when viewing the SA103F, SA103L, SA103S, SA104F or SA104S.

What's this page about?

Use this form to enter Class 1, 2, and 4 National Insurance contributions to complete the return and to be used in the Tax calculation.

For tax years 2016 and later, individuals with self-employment, partnership or Lloyd's underwriters will no longer pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions weekly but this will be assessed and paid with their Income Tax and Class 4 National Insurance contributions via Self Assessment. Individuals with profits from all business sources less than the Small Profit threshold can apply to make voluntary contributions.

Enter your client's Class 2 NICs, whether or not they are voluntary contributions. This is needed for the tax calculation.

If the return is submitted after 31 January following the tax year, then any voluntary Class 2 NIC payments may be allocated by HMRC to the wrong year or refunded. If this situation arises, contact HMRC.

The Class 4 NICs will be calculated based on the business profits, where relevant. The details will be included in the tax calculation and NIC appendix.

Where the client also has employment earnings the name(s) of the employer(s) will be listed in this window. If you enter the earnings liable to Class 1 NICs, they will not be displayed on the tax return but will be used in the tax calculation to compare the Class 4 NIC on business profits with the total amount due under NIC Regulation 100 to determine the maximum Class 4 NIC liability. This will be shown in the NIC appendix to the Tax calculation.

Why should I check the NIC amounts I've entered?

After a return is submitted, HMRC will run its own tax calculation to check the tax liability. However, in this calculation, HMRC will use the NIC figures it holds rather than the figures submitted.

To avoid post-submission NIC calculation amendments, you should therefore check that the figures you've entered agree with those held by HMRC before submitting the return.

How do I check the NIC amounts held by HMRC?

To check the NIC amounts held by HMRC:

  1. Log into HMRC Online Services.
  2. Click Self Assessment > Your current client.
  3. Click Tax Return Options.
  4. Click Information to help complete your tax return.
  5. Click Additional information.

The Additional information page will show the total Class 2 NICs due and total Class 1 earnings between the Primary Threshold and Upper Earnings Limit.

If you disagree with these figures, or the total Class 2 NICs shows as "Not available", contact HMRC to resolve the issue before submitting the client's return.