Does anyone know about exam invigilating and NI?

[Superdupes]

From what I've read exam invigilators are considered self employed when it come to NI, this means that they can pay the same amount as other self employed people to get their NI qualifying year.

Is that correct? Does anyone know how you do this if you don't do self assessment? On the gov pages it say if you don't do SA you have to find another way to pay - but then doesn't seem to say what this 'other way' is. Anyone know if there's a particular form? Do you have to phone them up to do it? Anyone know anything?

Our school pay our exam invigilators through PAYE payroll, as casual members of staff, not self employed. Have you checked with the establishment you will be invigilating for?

I thought some of the criteria for being self employed was you can set the days/hours you work, you can send someone in your place, you set/negotiate the rate you are paid and submit invoices. An invigilator wouldn't do any of these things.

Exam invigilators can be self employed and therefore pay reduced NI. But you have to register as self employed and do a yearly tax return. That’s what I do as an exam marker and I understand it’s the same for invigilators.

You should ring the helpline ~ they are very good. But I don’t think you can avoid the tax return.

Oh and there is a ‘set’ amount you pay, they give you a bank account code and an individual number and you make a BACS transfer. In my memory employed NI was around £1000 pa and self employed around £300 for each year you buy. So quite a saving but of course no sick pay, mat pay etc if you’re self employed.

Thanks, I'll give them a ring and see what they say.

Hi just to update this thread had to contact HMRC a couple of times as not everyone knows what they're doing........ exam invigilators are considered as self employed for NI voluntary contributions but are exempt from Self assessment.

You need to get an 18 digit number from HMRC and can then use that to pay Class 2 voluntary contributions online. Any weeks that you have paid class 1 NICS for can be deducted from the total and they can tell you exactly how much you need to pay.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/national-insurance-manual/nim74100

https://www.gov.uk/pay-class-2-national-insurance

Thanks, this is actually quite useful for my current situation, although I will be able to pay via Self Assessment.

Unless I am missing something, it seems cheaper to pay a year of Class 2 than to make back-payments of NI, which is £800+ per year.

Class 2 are around £170 a year if you are self employed or considered self employed for NIC purposes.

If you pay class 3 ie not self employed and not considered self employed for NIC purposes then yes, it is £800ish.

Hi
As an invigilator since 2013 I read your comment with great interest, and have spent all day trying to talk to HMRC.

They did not seem to understand their own rules. My school pays me under PAYE and I don't do Self Assessment, but they say I must be Self employed to Pay Class 2.

I am trying to make Class 2 contributions for previous years but cannot find a way to do so.

Did you speak to any specific department there?

Interested to hear more about this as I'm also an invigilator. Unfortunately it seems unnecessarily complicated!

Yes it's a problem. I actually ended up wrongly signed up for self assessment the first time I phoned up! It's better not to phone I found, instead I was recommended to try the chatbot.

HMRC on facebook told me to put in 'advisor' over and over until you get a real person. It's best to do this as close to 10am as possible as that is the time real people start. Then you need to tell the advisor you are an exam invigilator and are exempt from self assessment and need an 18 digit number to pay your Class 2 NICs. It's best to tell them what you need I've found rather than ask. They will also tell you exactly how much you need to pay as they can see how many weeks you've already paid in class 1 NICS.

If you do phone though you need to talk to someone in class 2 NICs and just tell them that you are exempt from self assessment and need an 18 digit number to pay your class 2 NICS.

Then you use this page to pay it, (scroll down)
https://www.gov.uk/pay-class-2-national-insurance

This is the page for the chatbot thing
https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/ask-hmrc/chat/national-insurance

Thank you so much for replying. I spent the whole day yesterday calling HMRC then at 5.55 pm being told I was wrong and that I needed to be self employed. I told her she was wrong and quoted their website but to no avail. My dilemma now is how I pay these contributions for past years.

God they are useless! I'm sorry but I don't know how you pay past years NICs but it might be worth asking HMRC on facebook if you're on there. I found them useful as they directed me to the chatbot and told me to put in advisor. They were also aware that exam invigilators were exempt from SA. It might be the easiest place to ask and see if they know the answer.