Self-Employment

The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement took place on 3 December 2014. Here is a brief summary of the key points:

In previous blogs I have discussed Class 2 NI contributions and how they are collected. The National Insurance Contributions Bill was published on 18 July 2014. It will introduce legislation (which was consulted on last year) to reform the collection of Class 2 NICs by enabling the self-employed to pay their Class 2 contributions through self-assessment alongside their income tax and Class 4 NICs.

So, you’ve taken the leap and you have registered with HMRC as Self-Employed. What happens next? Well there are a number of things that you (or your accountant) need to do and that HMRC will do. In this piece I am focussing on National Insurance. Once you register as self-employed, HMRC will send you a letter (OK, it’s a bill) in respect of your self-employed National Insurance contributions. There are many types of National Insurance.

You need to inform HMRC when you start working for yourself. You should do this immediately and certainly within 3 months. You can either call HMRC’s helpline on 0300 200 3300 or you can register online.

Information that you will need to register as self-employed: