All Need know about National Insurance Contributions (NICs)

If you're over 16 and would like to qualify in specific UK benefits, like the State Pension, when you retire, you'll be required in order to contribute National Insurance Contributions (NICs) as an element of the taxes you owe to HMRC. In addition, you will need to be an employee making over PS166 each week or self-employed, and earn profits of PS6,365 or higher per year.

Calculating your eligibility for NICs is easy to do through your self-assessment tax returns or your PAYE employment arrangement. Employees are able to view the specifics of their NIC payments that were taken out from their pay slips at source as well as their self-employed counterparts need to calculate the amount they have to pay on the tax return calculation.

You can calculate your earnings in detail by using pay slips, electronic or paper proof of your self-employment income like invoices from clients or bank accounts, as well as the details of any expenses you're planning to include in your tax-deductible income , which have been documented. This will help you figure out precisely how much you are owed by HMRC in NICs and taxation of income.

Be aware of your number

To begin taking NIC payments and to increase your rights towards State Pension and other benefits You will need to be aware of the National Insurance number. This number is assigned to your age at 16 and stays in the exact same form throughout your existence. When you begin paying NICs and NICs payments, they will be monitored with you National Insurance number to make sure you've made enough to earn right benefits at the time to claim them.

When you make an amount between PS118 to PS166 per week Your NICs will be considered to have already been paid to safeguard you from a National Insurance record. If you earn more than PS166 weekly threshold PS166 weekly threshold are subject to paying your own National Insurance contributions.

Make sure you know the class you are in.

A system of different classes differs in the amount of NICs you have to pay and the method by how they will be paid. The specifics are as the following:

Class 1: employees who are working less than PS166 and who are not yet the age of State Pension. The NICs are directly paid by your employer and are deducted from your salary directly via PAYE. They are included on your pay slip.

1B or Class 1A Contributions are based on the employee's benefits or expenses in contrast to the salary or wages they earn and are paid directly to the employer. Again, this is done through PAYE and are reflected on the pay slip.

Class 2: Individuals who are self-employed and who earn more than PS6,365 per year. If your earnings are less than that, then you aren't required to pay NICs for Class 2 However, you may contribute on your own to ensure that there are no gaps in you National Insurance record.

Class 4: Self-employed individuals who earn more than PS8,632 annually. Class 4 NNICs are calculated and paid through the self-assessment procedure and are typically paid along with the Class 2 NNICs.

More details

Certain people are eligible for more than one category of NICs. For instance, when your main source of income is an employment position, however you also perform self-employed, paid work in addition to it. In this scenario your employer would deduct the Class 1 payments directly off your salary through PAYE, and you pay the Class 2, 4 or 5 NICs through your self-assessment tax returns. The amount of NICs you have to pay will depend on the amount you make as a total income. Employers are also required to make National Insurance contributions for each of their employees who are eligible according to their rate based on the amount that each employee earns.

There are some instances where there are some exceptions to the NIC rules are applicable, for example, landlords and directors of companies running an investment business. Find out more about this if you believe it is the case for you. You can also learn more about NIC rates and classes on the official website: www.gov.uk, as well as the steps to take in the event that you believe you've an overpayment of NICs.