The reason you make Social Security contribution payments is to give yourself and your employees insurance protection under the Social Insurance Scheme.
Below you will find further information for employers and self-employed persons. More information about Social Security, for employers, is also provided in the Employer's Guide - Leaflet 20 in the downloads section of this page. This leaflet includes information about holiday pay, pay during sickness, gratuities and tips and payment in lieu of notice as well as much more.
Employers
- Information for employers can now be found here.
Class 2 - Self-employed persons
- A self-employed person is classed as someone who is in business for themselves, or who is working for gain but not under the control of an employer.
- Further information for self-employed persons is available to download in the
self-employed persons leaflet [157kb] .
- If you have recently become self-employed or wish to become self-employed, please download and complete the
application to pay earnings related contributions [2Mb]
- If you are not sure if you should be classified as an employed person or a self-employed person, further information can be downloaded from the
employed or self-employed leaflet [196kb].
- The table below shows the contribution rates for self-employed persons:
Contribution rates for (Class 2) self-employed persons Self-employed contributions 2017 2016 Yearly percentage 11.00% 10.50% Upper earnings limit (annual) £138,684.00 £137,592.00 maximum weekly rate* £293.37 £277.83 Lower earnings limit (annual) £6,968.00 £6,916.00 minimum weekly rate £14.74 £13.96 - * Persons classified as self-employed are automatically liable to pay contributions at the maximum rate, unless they apply to have their rate of contribution assessed upon their earnings. In order to have your rate of contribution assessed upon your earnings you will need to complete an
application to pay earnings related contributions [2Mb]