Tax & Income
Enter your salary to see your Class 1 National Insurance contributions, thresholds, and a full pay period breakdown.
Annual gross salary
Monthly employee NI
£150
£1,794 per year
| Band | Rate | Earnings | NI due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard rate £12,570 to £50,270 | 8% | £22,430 | £1,794 |
| Total employee NI | £1,794 | ||
Primary Threshold: £12,570/yr (NI starts here)
Upper Earnings Limit: £50,270/yr (rate drops to 2% above this)
| Monthly | Weekly | Daily | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | £2,917 | £673 | £135 |
| Employee NI | −£150 | −£35 | −£7 |
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The Income Tax Calculator includes NI alongside income tax, pensions, and student loans.
Income Tax CalculatorNI Guide
National Insurance contributions fund the State Pension and certain social security benefits. Unlike income tax, NI is calculated independently each pay period rather than cumulatively, and the rates have changed significantly across recent tax years.
As an employee you pay Class 1 NI on earnings above the Primary Threshold (£12,570 in 2026/27). The rate is 8% on earnings up to the Upper Earnings Limit (£50,270), dropping to 2% above that. In 2023/24 the lower rate was 12% for most of the year, before being cut to 10% in January 2024, and then to 8% from April 2024.
Unlike income tax, there is no taper or personal allowance reduction above £100,000. NI simply applies a lower rate above the Upper Earnings Limit rather than removing a threshold.
Employers pay secondary Class 1 NI on employee earnings above the Secondary Threshold. From April 2025, the rate rose from 13.8% to 15% and the Secondary Threshold was reduced from £9,100 to £5,000 per year. This means employers now pay NI on a much larger portion of salary. For an employee earning £35,000, employer NI costs the business an additional £4,500 per year in 2026/27, compared to £3,574 in 2024/25.
Employer NI is a direct cost to the business and is not deducted from your take-home pay. However, strategies such as salary sacrifice pension arrangements can reduce an employer's NI bill, and many employers pass some or all of this saving to employees.
Each year you pay NI contributions (or receive NI credits through unemployment, caring, or certain benefits) counts as a qualifying year toward your State Pension. You need 35 qualifying years for the full new State Pension and at least 10 years for any amount at all. Gaps in your record can sometimes be filled by making voluntary Class 3 NI contributions.
You can check your NI record and State Pension forecast via the government gateway at gov.uk. It is worth reviewing this regularly, particularly if you have had years out of work.
Salary sacrifice pension contributions reduce the salary that NI is calculated on, saving both employee and employer NI. For a basic-rate taxpayer contributing 5% on a £35,000 salary, salary sacrifice saves around £140 per year in employee NI on top of the income tax saving. The employer saves 15% on the sacrificed amount (£262 in 2026/27). Many employers pass this saving to the employee's pension pot. Use the Income Tax Calculator to model the full picture.
Self-employed people pay Class 4 NI at 9% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above £50,270. Class 2 NI (a flat weekly amount) was abolished from April 2024. Those with profits above the Small Profits Threshold (£6,725) automatically receive NI credits toward the State Pension without making Class 2 payments. This calculator covers employee and employer Class 1 NI only.