A self-employed creator in the UK pays Class 4 National Insurance through Self Assessment on profits above £12,570, at 6% up to £50,270 and 2% above that for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, and no longer pays Class 2: GOV.UK's self-employed National Insurance rates treat Class 2 as paid once profits reach £7,105, which protects your State Pension record, while creators with lower profits pay nothing but can choose voluntary Class 2 at £3.65 a week. Profit means income minus allowable expenses, not the gross figure on your platform statement.
How Class 2 and Class 4 work now
Self-employed people used to pay a weekly Class 2 flat rate as well as Class 4. HMRC's policy paper on the change explains that from 6 April 2024 the liability to pay Class 2 was removed, people above the small profits threshold keep access to contributory benefits including the State Pension through a credit, and people below it can still pay voluntarily. The result for a creator is that the only compulsory contribution on self-employed profit is now Class 4, and Class 2 has become an option for low-profit years.
GOV.UK's National Insurance introduction says mandatory contributions apply if you are 16 or over and self-employed with profits of more than £12,570 a year, and that you stop paying Class 4 from 6 April after you reach State Pension age. If you also have a job, your employer deducts Class 1 from wages, and the how much you pay page says HMRC works out the Class 4 due on your self-employed work after you file, taking your combined position into account. Creators who run their business through a limited company follow different rules as directors, covered in our comparison of sole trader and company set-ups.
National Insurance worksheet for your profit figure
Enter your own self-employed profit for the tax year that GOV.UK's rates page currently covers, 2026 to 2027, which runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. The thresholds and rates in each line are the ones published on the GOV.UK page in the source column; check that page again if you are working on a different tax year.
| Line | Enter or calculate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A | Your self-employed profit for the year: creator income including the value of gifts received for promotion, minus allowable expenses | Your Self Assessment workings |
| B | If line A is below £7,105: nothing is due, but the year may be a gap, so go to the voluntary checklist | GOV.UK rates page |
| C | If line A is £7,105 or more but not over £12,570: nothing to pay, and Class 2 is treated as paid for your record | National Insurance classes |
| D | Main Class 4: 6% of the part of line A above £12,570, up to £50,270 | Class 4 main rate |
| E | Additional Class 4: 2% of the part of line A above £50,270 | Class 4 additional rate |
| F | Total Class 4: line D plus line E, added to your Income Tax in the same Self Assessment bill | How you pay |
| G | If you also earn wages: note your Class 1 deductions and expect HMRC to confirm the final Class 4 figure after you file | Employed and self-employed |
| H | Reached State Pension age before this tax year began: Class 4 no longer applies | When you stop paying |
Line A needs the most care, because gifted products and the gross-versus-net question around platform fees change the profit before any rate is applied. Our UK creator tax overview covers what counts as trading income, including the trading allowance and gifts.
How Class 4 reaches HMRC: the Self Assessment bill
Class 4 is not paid separately. GOV.UK's guide to payments on account says those advance payments towards next year's bill include Class 4 for the self-employed, each is usually half of the previous year's tax, and they fall due on 31 January and 31 July, unless last year's bill was under £1,000 or more than 80% of your tax was already collected at source. When profits jump, the balancing payment the following January carries the extra Class 4 as well as Income Tax.
For the registration step that puts you into Self Assessment in the first place, see our guide on registering as self-employed in the UK, and for the full filing and payment calendar, our Self Assessment deadlines for creators.
Check your State Pension record before you decide anything
The State Pension is the main reason National Insurance years matter to a creator. GOV.UK's new State Pension eligibility page says you need 10 qualifying years on your record to get any new State Pension, and that a qualifying year can come from contributions, credits or voluntary contributions. A run of low-profit creator years without credits can therefore leave holes that only show up decades later.
- Your record. The National Insurance record service shows what you have paid up to the start of the current tax year, which is 6 April 2026, any credits, which years are not qualifying years, and how much it would cost to fill a gap.
- Your forecast. The State Pension forecast service, also in the HMRC app, shows what you could get, when, and whether paying to fill gaps would increase it.
- Credits first. GOV.UK's voluntary National Insurance guide tells you to check whether you are eligible for National Insurance credits before paying anything voluntarily.
- Not every gap is worth filling. The same guide warns that voluntary contributions do not always increase your State Pension, for example if you were contracted out, and suggests the Future Pension Centre if you are unsure.
Voluntary Class 2 decision checklist
Use this in any year when your creator profit stays below the small profits threshold, for example a first year spent building an audience or a year when platform income dipped.
- Confirm you qualify: GOV.UK's page on who can pay voluntary contributions allows Class 2 or Class 3 if you are self-employed with gross income of £1,000 or less, or gross income over £1,000 but profits under £7,105.
- Open your record and find out whether this year would otherwise be a gap, and whether credits from caring, benefits or employment already cover it.
- Run the forecast to see whether one more qualifying year changes what you would receive.
- Compare the classes: the voluntary rates page lists £3.65 a week for Class 2 and £18.40 a week for Class 3 for 2026 to 2027, so a self-employed creator who can use Class 2 should not default to Class 3.
- Pay through your Self Assessment return if you are in it; if not, GOV.UK's page on paying voluntary Class 2 outside Self Assessment says you register with HMRC, which then sends a yearly payment request with an 18-digit reference between September and the end of October.
- Mind the window: the deadlines page lets you pay for the past 6 years, with a 5 April deadline each year, giving the example of 5 April 2032 for the 2025 to 2026 tax year.
- Know which rate applies: the rates page charges the original rate for Class 2 for the previous tax year and for Class 3 for the previous 2 tax years, and the 2026 to 2027 rate for anything older.
- Keep the confirmation and check your record afterwards; the Class 2 payment guide says a payment can take up to 8 weeks to appear.
Creators living or working abroad
The rules for periods abroad changed on 6 April 2026, and HMRC's policy paper on voluntary contributions abroad sets out how: voluntary Class 2 for periods abroad ends from the 2026 to 2027 tax year for most self-employed people, surviving only for those treated as self-employed in the UK under a social security agreement and for volunteer development workers. The same paper says new applications to pay Class 3 for periods abroad need 10 continuous years of UK residence or 10 qualifying years, while existing Class 2 payers have a transitional route if they apply before 6 April 2027. If you are travelling while you create, our guide to tax residency for digital nomad creators covers the residence test that decides where you pay tax at all.
Where GOV.UK pages pull in different directions
- Who may choose Class 2. The how much you pay page simply says self-employed people may choose to pay Class 2 at £3.65 a week, while the eligibility page limits voluntary Class 2 to gross income of £1,000 or less or profits under £7,105. Follow the eligibility page, which is the specific rule.
- Old thresholds in policy papers. The 2023 policy paper quotes the small profits threshold of the time, £6,725, which is why older articles disagree with today's £7,105. Policy papers describe a change on the day it was announced; the rates page shows the current year.
Limitations of this National Insurance guide
The rates and thresholds here are those GOV.UK published for 2026 to 2027 when checked on 1 October 2026, and they change each tax year. This guide assumes a UK-resident sole trader and leaves out company directors, partnerships, share fishermen, married women's reduced rate elections and the special Class 4 arrangements for examiners. It cannot tell you whether a particular gap is worth filling, which depends on your full record and age. An accountant or tax adviser can check the profit figure behind line A and your combined position if you also have a job, and our guide to choosing a creator accountant in the US or UK explains how to check their credentials before you share your records.