ANNEX A: Background on National Insurance for the self-employed Special Groups
15.In addition to the self-employed in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, there are a small number of special groups who are either liable to pay Class 2 contributions or who have the option of paying them on a voluntary basis under EU law and bi-lateral Social Security agreements with non-EU countries.
16.These include people who are usually self-employed in the UK but go to work in another European Economic Area Member State temporarily and those who are self-employed in more than one Member State but who reside in the UK and carry out a substantial part of their activity here.
17.There are also some other groups who are liable for Class 2 contributions or have the option of paying voluntary Class 2 contributions, including:
	Mariners who are not liable to pay Class 1 contributions;
	Share fishermen who are liable for a special rate of Class 2 contributions (£3.40 per week in 2014-2015) which provides additional benefit entitlement, specifically access to contribution based jobseeker’s allowance; and
	Volunteer Development Workers who can choose to pay voluntary Class 2 contributions at a special rate (£5.55 per week in 2014-2015) which provides them with the same additional benefit entitlement as share fishermen.