Paying Both Self-Employed NI & Employed NI At The Same Time For Parts Of Every Year

Hello. I am long-term self-employed, so pay self-employed National Insurance contributions for the whole year. But as I work in outdoor education and sports, my industry has a quiet spell over winter of mainly paperwork and planning for the next year. As a result, I always take some employed work during this period to fill my spare time (and pay the bills). During this time I pay PAYE tax and employed NI through my employers, and then eventually either reclaim my PAYE tax through my employer updating my tax code or during self-assessment. (I also now have a customer who has moved me in the past year from being a self-employed freelancer, to employed on effectively a zero-hour contract). The employed time period and income make up the minority of my financial year (though the change to a zero-hour contract may impact this going forward). However, the self-assessment system doesn't seem to offer a way of reclaiming NI contributions during the weeks I am paying for being both employed and self-employed at the same time. Am I meant to be paying contributions towards both classes during these times, or am I entitled to claim back any of this double payment? If I can reclaim some of this, which class of NI would I be able to claim for, and is there a specific system I should be using? Many thanks, Callum

Hi Callum,
Where an individual who is self employed and employed in the same tax year, Class 1NIC on employment income is calculated first, followed by Class 4, taking into account lass 1 NIC already paid.
 Where you have paid too much NIC, you will need to seek repayment via the NIC helpline at 0300 200 3500 (Monday to Friday: 8am to 6pm Closed on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays).
More information can be found at:
National Insurance: detailed information
Thank you.