Estimate your Class 1 employee National Insurance contributions on annual salary.
Employee National Insurance is charged at 8% on earnings between the primary threshold and the upper earnings limit, and 2% on anything above that. Nothing is due below the primary threshold.
Illustrative estimate only, using simplified/rounded 2026/27 UK figures — not tax advice. Always confirm with HMRC or a qualified UK tax adviser.
National Insurance is charged separately from Income Tax and funds the State Pension and certain benefits. For 2026/27, employees pay the main rate of 8% on earnings between the Primary Threshold (£242 a week) and the Upper Earnings Limit (£967 a week), and 2% on anything above that upper limit — unlike income tax, there is no equivalent of the Personal Allowance reducing at high income, so the marginal NI rate actually falls once you cross the upper limit.
Employers pay their own separate NI contribution on top, which does not come out of the employee's pay but is a real cost to the employer and one reason total employment cost is higher than gross salary alone. The self-employed pay Class 4 NI on profits instead, at different rates and thresholds, calculated through Self Assessment rather than deducted from pay.
Yes — NI contributions (or credits, for periods like unemployment or caring for children) build up "qualifying years" toward the State Pension. Generally 35 qualifying years are needed for the full new State Pension, with at least 10 years needed for any pension at all.
No, employees stop paying Class 1 NI once they reach State Pension age, even if they continue working, though income tax still applies to earnings as normal.
NI is assessed per pay period rather than cumulatively across the tax year, which is why bonuses or irregular pay patterns can produce a different NI outcome than spreading the same total evenly across 12 months would.
No — NI is a tax that funds the state system on a pay-as-you-go basis, not a personal pot. A workplace pension is a separate, personal retirement account funded by its own contributions, on top of whatever NI you pay.