I was registered as self employed between 2011 and 2017. This was a small sideline along side my main PAYE income (so my NI contributions are already made up for the years in question), and me SE profit was generally about £1500 per year (highest was about £2500). Now I've just had a letter from HMRC demanding Class 2 NIC for 2011 to 2015. Don't know why they've only just written to me about it, first I've heard from them on this subject since 2011. I was always under the impression that as my income was below the small earnings exception, I was exempt from having to pay class 2 NIC? I seem to recall dealing with this matter back in 2011, and I'm pretty sure I sent them a CF10 form back then (although I didn't keep a copy of that myself). Should I just write to them stating that I believe I was exempt due to earnings below the threshold? Obviously this is reflected in my SA tax returns. Are they likely to just accept that? It seems odd that if they think I should have been paying class 2 NICS for all these years, why haven't they chased it before now?

Hi, Sorry for the basic question but I'm struggling to find an answer. As a sole trader, do I pay class 4 NIC's on my personal tax allowance or do i deduct my expenses AND personal allowance from my gross profit and then pay class 4 on what remains? Thanks

I am currently on ESA SG and in the middle of being reassessed. I am as always worried about losing my ESA. I am also due to be moving in with my partner in a few months and as they earn over the threshold I will lose all money anyway but at least if I am on ESA my stamp will get paid so I will still qualify for my pension in future. If I lose my ESA it won't change the fact that I am currently unable to work but I won't get my NIC paid. I s there anything I can do to get round this issue? Could I for example become self employed and just pay my stamp myself it it wouldn't be too much money each month. My plan is to become self employed anyway but I think it will be sometime before I can make an income. My partners salary also takes us over the threshold for anything like tax credits so I won't be applying for anything like that. My partner knows the situation and is happy to support me financially, the main issue for me is to still keep my national insurance contributions up without being hassled by the job center or work programme.

Hi I've been working hard for the past year trying to set myself up in business as a sole trader, and finally I think I might have got my foot in the door with a very important client that could secure me maybe even a minimum liveable income for potentially life. I have some questions. From the perspective of the benefits I currently am in receipt of, ie. working tax credits and housing benefit, can I take some of the money from what I'm paid and put it back into my company? What do I keep aside for the tax thieves, 20%? Or should I save 30% to cover myself? Is there any where on the internet or elsewhere i can find out a rough idea of how much money I should negotiate? I don't want to over or under, just a little over the going rate and not too much that I turn them away. Do these things tend to work like they do on the telly?

Hello people, im hoping someone out there will be able to help me. Does anyone know at what point Class 4 National Insurance Contributions are paid and deducted. I'l try and explain........my partner is a self employed/sub contractor builder. His boss pays him a wage every week from which he has already deducted tax......then every 6 months my partner gets an invoice from the HMRC to pay his Class 2 contributions. His last self assessment for April 2011/12 was done by a chartered accountant (which happens to be his boss's sister). She offered to do it for him because my partner has no idea how these things work, and considering she is a fully qualified chartered accountant he didn't think anything wrong with this. However......I feel that her calculations are wrong. His gross earnings for 2011/12 were £23,550, from this she has deducted £908 for expenses leaving an amount of £22,642 then from this she has deducted the personal allowance which then left a figure of £15,463. From this she has then deducted income tax at 20%, (which worked out at about £3,500 approx)........then the next bit is the bit that i dont understand. Going back to the figure of £22,642 she has then deducted Class 4 NI @ 9% of this, which is before any tax was taken off.....which worked out at about £1,600 approx. Is this right?......In other words 1, should he be paying Class 4 and 2, if so should it be deducted from the figure before tax or after?.....someone please help

Hiya everyone. I am very confused and scared about my situation. I will explain a bit and it will hopefully make sense. I work from home as Self Employed and have been claiming working tax credits since I turned 25 (last year) I have not been able to work for the last 5 weeks and now I am scared that I can get into trouble for this as I have not informed them? Should I inform them now and can I get into trouble for this? I also get my wages from my self employed paid to my mothers bank account (we live together and it's easier this way) but my WTC get paid into my bank account, I have become worried that this could cause confusion and problems too? I am also in arrears with my National Insurance Contributions (I believe by about £450?) I haven't received any letters from them in a few months now and had forgotten all about them, and to tell you the truth I was ignoring the arrears letters on purpose as I didn't know I had to pay them, I assumed it was optional as I am on low income and self employed? But I have read on the internet today that I could actually go to prison for not paying them??? I don't know what to do I am worried sick about this! Maybe I could contact and offer to pay them back in installments? Any information on this would be greatly appreciated as I am getting anxious about this, Thanks for reading this. Any help would be great.

I am getting made redundant in the near future. Thankfully I have a personal income protection insurance but to qualify this I need to be in receipt of JSA. Here is where the problem lies. For the past 18 months I have been paying my NICS as any employee does, but prior to that my wages was paid primarily as dividends and I was paid a minimum salary to qualify for my NIC contributions being up to date, even though I did not actually pay anything. I know I won't get IB JSA due to my partner working and savings. I am now being told by various colleagues that I therefore may not even be entitled to CB JSA because I will not have paid enough NIC's. I do have a NIC record which states that 'Payment not needed' for years 2006 - 2010 (when I was being paid via dividends) and there is also a statement which says 'If any tax year on the enclosed schedule has 'payment not needed' next to it, the tax year has enough NIC's paid or credits allocated to be a qualifying year for basic State Pension and bereavement payments' but is this enough to qualify for CB JSA. Can anyone shed any light on this please.