Slightly different set of circumstances with me as I am employed by my own limited company but:

Register as self employed to keep your contribution record up to date - I know that by retirement age he will have contributed more than the statutory minimum number of years IF he remains in full employment but if circumstances (or legislation) change he will have a but under his belt if he needs to fall out of the system/work abroad etc.

As regards travelling expenses if he spends more than 40% of his time at one location for more than 2 years (or thinks he is likely to do from the outset) then the travelling expenses for this location will become ineligible for tax relief.

I wish him well and hope his next query is about VAT registration (another potential minefield)

Hello Chris, bit of a teaser here. If he 'signs on' effectively on job seekers then his NI is paid and will count towards his ultimate contributory years(30 at present) and will qualify him for the state pension at 66. But obviously he can earn very little while doing this. If he is self employed he does not have to register as such, there is no register. However he needs to declare his earnings, however small to HMRC and if they are below the threshold he will neither pay tax nor NI. He could check it out to see what the basic NI contribution is and may elect to pay it voluntarily monthly by direct debit if he can afford it. But the years he does not pay NI, even though self employed and below the threshold, do not count toward the neccessary 30 for state pension. So far so clear!! I hope.

All he needs to do is keep a simple twin entry book of income and expenditure on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. He can copy this onto the self assessment form and this is not too difficult. He will need some skill with accounts and numbers if he is to be self employed anyway and it is fairly easy. At 19 it must be worth a punt for a year or two to see if he makes a go of being self employed. I wish him luck and hope he gets to a position where he pays lots of tax, because that means he made lots of money too. Don't let the 'system' scare him or put him off. It is quite simple once you get into it and contrary to rumour most organisations like HMRC and NI(Works and Pensions) will offer free, good advice, especially online. Best of luck to him. Cheers Concrete