Payment of class 2 National Insurance.
The way class 2 National Insurance was paid changed as from 10 July 2015 when payments by direct debit stopped. When you file your self assessment tax return, your Class 2 National Insurance for 2015-16 onwards will be collected along with any income tax and class 4 National Insurance due.
What to watch for
Class 2 National Insurance gives entitlement to contributions-based benefits. If you are likely to want to claim contributions based benefits before January 2017, you may want to make voluntary payments in advance to protect your benefit rights – see https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions.
Note, voluntary class 2 National Insurance Contributions are much cheaper than voluntary class 3 National Insurance Contributions. Not everyone is entitled to pay class 2 contributions ( see https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions).
If you are in self assessment
If you are self-employed, but have profits below the Small Profit Threshold you are entitled to pay class 2 National Insurance on a voluntary basis. This will now normally be done on your self assessment tax return, but you may want to pay in advance.
If you are not in self assessment
You may not be in self assessment, but have paid class 2 National Insurance. For example you live abroad and pay class 2 to maintain your UK pension rights. If you are not in self assessment, but want to pay class 2 National Insurance, HMRC should have contacted you to arrange payment.
Spreading the cost
If you just want to spread the cost of your Tax and National Insurance bill, you can set up a Budget Payment Plan, go to https://www.gov.uk/pay-self-assessment-tax-bill/budget-payment-plan.
Next steps
If you need to contact HMRC about class 2 National Insurance, you can phone on 0300 200 3505.
