As from April 2011, payments for class 2 National Insurance contributions will become due on 31 January and 31 July, the same dates as for self-assessment tax bills, HM Revenue and Customs has said.
In future, taxpayers who make payments by internet/telephone banking, CHAPS, bank giro, Post Office or through the post will receive just two payment requests during the year (instead of four bills), these being in October and April and showing payments due by 31 January and 31 July respectively.
In the case of payments made by direct debit, the collection of monthly payments will be delayed by HMRC to bring the payment dates into line.
As a consequence, for the first year only, monthly direct debits will stop for a short period and then start again; class 2 contributions due for April 2011 will be requested from taxpayers’ bank accounts in August 2011; and payments thereafter will be monthly.
However, a new option to pay by 6 monthly direct debit, collected in January and July each year, will be available from April 2011 for those who do not wish to spread their payments.
For anyone affected by the changes, HMRC has said that detailed information will be issued via a series of special mail shots in the coming weeks.
