Guidance

Rates and allowances: National Insurance contributions

Updated 6 April 2020

There are different ‘classes’ of National Insurance (NI). The type people pay depends on their employment status and how much they earn.

New National Insurance bands and allowances are usually announced in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget or Autumn Statement.

1. Class 1 National Insurance thresholds

Employers and employees pay Class 1 National Insurance depending on how much the employee earns. You can view these earnings thresholds by week (table 1.1) or by month (table 1.2).

1.1 Weekly thresholds

£ per week	2020 to 2021	2019 to 2020	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018
Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) Employees do not pay National Insurance but get the benefits of paying	£120	£118	£116	£113
Primary Threshold (PT) Employees start paying National Insurance	£183	£166	£162	£157
Secondary Threshold (ST) Employers start paying National Insurance	£169	£166	£162	£157
Upper Accrual Point (UAP) Employees with a contracted-out pension pay a lower rate of National Insurance up to this point	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Upper Earnings Limit (UEL) All employees pay a lower rate of National Insurance above this point	£962	£962	£892	£866
Upper Secondary Threshold (UST) Employers of employees who are under 21 pay zero rate up to this point	£962	£962	£892	£866
Apprentice Upper Secondary Threshold (AUST) Employers of certain apprentices who are under 25 pay zero rate up to this point	£962	£962	£892	£866

1.2 Monthly thresholds

£ per month	2020 to 2021	2019 to 2020	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018
Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) Employees do not pay National Insurance but get the benefits of paying	£520	£512	£503	£490
Primary Threshold (PT) Employees start paying National Insurance	£792	£719	£702	£680
Secondary Threshold (ST) Employers start paying National Insurance	£732	£719	£702	£680
Upper Accrual Point (UAP) Employees with a contracted-out pension pay a lower rate of National Insurance up to this point	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Upper Earnings Limit (UEL) All employees pay a lower rate of National Insurance above this point	£4,167	£4,167	£3,863	£3,750
Upper Secondary Threshold (UST) Employers of employees who are under 21 pay zero rate up to this point	£4,167	£4,167	£3,863	£3,750
Apprentice Upper Secondary Threshold (AUST) Employers of certain apprentices who are under 25 pay zero rate up to this point	£4,167	£4,167	£3,863	£3,750

2. Class 1 National Insurance rates

2.1 Employer rates

This table shows how much employers pay towards their employees’ National Insurance.

	2020 to 2021	2019 to 2020	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018
Rate above the Secondary Threshold	13.8%	13.8%	13.8%	13.8%
Rate below Upper Secondary Threshold	0%	0%	0%	0%
Rate below Apprentice Upper Secondary Threshold	0%	0%	0%	0%
Rebate for any employees in contracted-out pension schemes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Rebate for any employees in money-purchase schemes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Class 1A rate on expenses and benefits	13.8%	13.8%	13.8%	13.8%

2.2 Employee rates

This table shows how much employers deduct from employees’ pay.

	2020 to 2021	2019 to 2020	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018
Between Primary Threshold and Upper Earnings Limit	12%	12%	12%	12%
Above Upper Earnings Limit	2%	2%	2%	2%
Rebate for employees in contracted-out workplace pension schemes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Married women’s reduced rate between primary threshold and upper earnings limit	5.85%	5.85%	5.85%	5.85%
Rate for employees deferring National Insurance	2%	2%	2%	2%

3. Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance (self-employed)

There are 2 types of National Insurance for people who work for themselves, depending on their profits.

3.1 Class 2

	2020 to 2021	2019 to 2020	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018
Small Profits Threshold amount per year	£6,475	£6,365	£6,205	£6,025
Rate per week	£3.05	£3	£2.95	£2.85

3.2 Class 4

£ per year	2020 to 2021	2019 to 2020	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018
Lower Profits Limit Self-employed people start paying Class 4 National Insurance	£9,500	£8,632	£8,424	£8,164
Upper Profits Limit Self-employed people pay a lower rate	£50,000	£50,000	£46,350	£45,000
Rate between Lower Profits Limit and Upper Profits Limit	9%	9%	9%	9%
Rate above Upper Profits Limit	2%	2%	2%	2%

3.3 Special rates

£ per week	2020 to 2021	2019 to 2020	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018
Special Class 2 rate for share fishermen	£3.70	£3.65	£3.60	£3.50
Special Class 2 rate for volunteer development workers	£6.00	£5.90	£5.80	£5.65
Additional Class 4 rate when deferring National Insurance	2%	2%	2%	2%

4. Class 3 National Insurance (voluntary)

You can pay voluntary National Insurance to fill or avoid gaps in your record.

If you’re paying voluntary contributions for the previous 2 tax years (2019 to 2020 or 2018 to 2019), you’ll pay the original rates for those years.

For all other years you’ll pay the current rate (2020 to 2021).

£ per week	2020 to 2021	2019 to 2020	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018
Class 3 rate	£15.30	£15	£14.65	£14.25

Monthly Direct Debit payments for 2020 to 2021

How much you pay depends on whether there are 4 or 5 weeks in the month.

Payment date	Amount
8 May 2020	£61.20
12 June 2020	£76.50
10 July 2020	£61.20
14 August 2020	£61.20
11 September 2020	£76.50
9 October 2020	£61.20
13 November 2020	£61.20
11 December 2020	£76.50
8 January 2021	£61.20
12 February 2021	£76.50
12 March 2021	£61.20
9 April 2021	£61.20

5. Historical and future rates

You can view National Insurance rates and thresholds for previous tax years.

There will be new National Insurance rates and thresholds from 6 April 2020.

6. Income Tax rates

You can see Income Tax rates for the current and previous tax years.