Guidance

Rates and thresholds for employers 2019 to 2020

Use these rates and thresholds when you operate your payroll or provide expenses and benefits to your employees.

Unless otherwise stated, these figures apply from 6 April 2019 to 5 April 2020.

PAYE tax and Class 1 National Insurance contributions

You normally operate PAYE as part of your payroll so HMRC can collect Income Tax and National Insurance from your employees.

Your payroll software will calculate how much tax and National Insurance to deduct from your employees’ pay.

Tax thresholds, rates and codes

The amount of Income Tax you deduct from your employees depends on their tax code and how much of their taxable income is above their Personal Allowance.

England and Northern Ireland

PAYE tax rates and thresholds 2019 to 2020
Employee personal allowance £240 per week
£1,042 per month
£12,500 per year
English and Northern Irish basic tax rate 20% on annual earnings above the PAYE tax threshold and up to £37,500
English and Northern Irish higher tax rate 40% on annual earnings from £37,501 to £150,000
English and Northern Irish additional tax rate 45% on annual earnings above £150,000

Scotland

PAYE tax rates and thresholds 2019 to 2020
Employee personal allowance £240 per week
£1,042 per month
£12,500 per year
Scottish starter tax rate 19% on annual earnings above the PAYE tax threshold and up to £2,049
Scottish basic tax rate 20% on annual earnings from £2,050 to £12,444
Scottish intermediate tax rate 21% on annual earnings from £12,445 to £30,930
Scottish higher tax rate 41% on annual earnings from £30,931 to £150,000
Scottish top tax rate 46% on annual earnings above £150,000

Wales

PAYE tax rates and thresholds 2019 to 2020
Employee personal allowance £240 per week
£1,042 per month
£12,500 per year
Welsh basic tax rate 20% on annual earnings above the PAYE tax threshold and up to £37,500
Welsh higher tax rate 40% on annual earnings from £37,501 to £150,000
Welsh additional tax rate 45% on annual earnings above £150,000

Emergency tax codes

The emergency tax codes from 6 April 2019 are:

  • 1250L W1
  • 1250L M1
  • 1250L X

Find out more about emergency tax codes.

Class 1 National Insurance thresholds

You can only make National Insurance deductions on earnings above the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL).

Class 1 National Insurance thresholds 2019 to 2020
LEL £118 per week
£512 per month
£6,136 per year
Primary Threshold (PT) £166 per week
£719 per month
£8,632 per year
Secondary Threshold (ST) £166 per week
£719 per month
£8,632 per year
Upper Secondary Threshold (under 21) (UST) £962 per week
£4,167 per month
£50,000 per year
Apprentice Upper Secondary Threshold (apprentice under 25) (AUST) £962 per week
£4,167 per month
£50,000 per year
Upper Earnings Limit (UEL) £962 per week
£4,167 per month
£50,000 per year

Class 1 National Insurance rates

Employee (primary) contribution rates

Deduct primary contributions (employee’s National Insurance) from your employees’ pay through PAYE.

National Insurance category letter Earnings at or above LEL up to and including PT Earnings above the PT up to and including UEL Balance of earnings above UEL
A 0% 12% 2%
B 0% 5.85% 2%
C nil nil nil
H (apprentice under 25) 0% 12% 2%
J 0% 2% 2%
M (under 21) 0% 12% 2%
Z (under 21 – deferment) 0% 2% 2%

Employer (secondary) contribution rates

You pay secondary contributions (employer’s National Insurance) to HMRC as part of your PAYE bill.

Pay employers’ PAYE tax and National Insurance.

National Insurance category letter Earnings at or above LEL up to and including ST Earnings above ST up to and including UEL, UST, AUST Balance of earnings above UEL, UST, AUST
A 0% 13.80% 13.80%
B 0% 13.80% 13.80%
C 0% 13.80% 13.80%
H (apprentice under 25) 0% 0% 13.80%
J 0% 13.80% 13.80%
M (under 21) 0% 0% 13.80%
Z (under 21 – deferment) 0% 0% 13.80%

Class 1A National Insurance: expenses and benefits

You must pay Class 1A National Insurance on work benefits you give to your employees, example a company mobile phone. You report and pay Class 1A at the end of each tax year.

National Insurance class 2019 to 2020 rate
Class 1A 13.8%

Pay employers’ Class 1A National Insurance.

Class 1B National Insurance: PAYE Settlement Agreements (PSAs)

You pay Class 1B National Insurance if you have a PSA. This allows you to make one annual payment to cover all the tax and National Insurance due on small or irregular taxable expenses or benefits for your employees.

National Insurance class 2019 to 2020 rate
Class 1B 13.8%

Pay Class 1B National Insurance.

National Minimum Wage

The National Minimum Wage is the minimum pay per hour almost all workers are entitled to by law. Use the National Minimum Wage calculator to check if you’re paying a worker the National Minimum Wage or if you owe them payments from past years.

These rates apply from 1 April 2019.

Category of worker Hourly rate
Aged 25 and above (national living wage rate) £8.21
Aged 21 to 24 inclusive £7.70
Aged 18 to 20 inclusive £6.15
Aged under 18 (but above compulsory school leaving age) £4.35
Apprentices aged under 19 £3.90
Apprentices aged 19 and over, but in the first year of their apprenticeship £3.90

National Minimum Wage rates for previous years.

Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Pay

Use the maternity and paternity calculator for employers to calculate your employee’s Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), paternity or adoption pay, their qualifying week, average weekly earnings and leave period.

These rates apply from 7 April 2019.

Type of payment or recovery 2019 to 2020 rate
SMP – weekly rate for first 6 weeks 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings
SMP – weekly rate for remaining weeks £148.68 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower
Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) – weekly rate £148.68 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower
Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) – weekly rate for first 6 weeks 90% of employee’s average weekly earnings
SAP – weekly rate for remaining weeks £148.68 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower
Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) – weekly rate £148.68 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower
SMP/SPP/ShPP/SAP – proportion of your payments you can recover from HMRC 92% if your total Class 1 National Insurance (both employee and employer contributions) is above £45,000 for the previous tax year

103% if your total Class 1 National Insurance for the previous tax year is £45,000 or lower

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

The same weekly SSP rate applies to all employees. However, the amount you must actually pay an employee for each day they’re off work due to illness (the daily rate) depends on the number of ‘qualifying days’ (QDs) they work each week.

Use the SSP calculator to work out your employee’s sick pay, or use these rates.

Unrounded daily rates Number of QDs in week 1 day to pay 2 days to pay 3 days to pay 4 days to pay 5 days to pay 6 days to pay 7 days to pay
£13.4642 7 £13.47 £26.93 £40.40 £53.86 £67.33 £80.79 £94.25
£15.7083 6 £15.71 £31.42 £47.13 £62.84 £78.55 £94.25  
£18.8500 5 £18.85 £37.70 £56.55 £75.40 £94.25    
£23.5625 4 £23.57 £47.13 £70.69 £94.25      
£31.4166 3 £31.42 £62.84 £94.25        
£47.1250 2 £47.13 £94.25          
£94.25 1 £94.25            

Student loan and Postgraduate loan recovery

If your employees’ earnings are above the earnings threshold, record their student loan and postgraduate loan deductions in your payroll software. It will automatically calculate and deduct repayments from their pay.

Rate or threshold 2019 to 2020 rate
Employee earnings threshold for Student loan Plan 1 £18,935 per year
£1,577.91 per month
£364.13 per week
Employee earnings threshold for Student loan Plan 2 £25,725 per year
£2,143.75 per month
£494.71 per week
Student loan deductions 9%
Employee earnings threshold for Postgraduate loan £21,000 per year
£1,750.00 per month
£403.84 per week
Postgraduate loan deductions 6%

Company cars: Advisory Fuel Rates (AFRs)

Use AFRs to work out mileage costs if you provide company cars to your employees.

These rates apply from 1 June 2020.

Engine size Petrol – amount per mile LPG – amount per mile
1400cc or less 10 pence 6 pence
1401cc to 2000cc 12 pence 8 pence
Over 2000cc 17 pence 11 pence
Engine size Diesel – amount per mile
1600cc or less 8 pence
1601cc to 2000cc 9 pence
Over 2000cc 12 pence

Hybrid cars are treated as either petrol or diesel cars for this purpose.

Advisory Fuel Rates for previous periods.

Advisory Electricity Rate for fully electric cars

Amount per mile – 4 pence.

Electricity is not a fuel for car fuel benefit purposes.

Employee vehicles: Mileage Allowance Payments (MAPs)

MAPs are what you pay your employees for using their own vehicle for business journeys.

You can pay your employees an approved amount of MAPs each year without having to report them to HMRC. To work out the approved amount, multiply your employee’s business travel miles for the year by the rate per mile for their vehicle.

Find out more about reporting and paying MAPs.

Type of vehicle Rate per business mile 2019 to 2020
Car For tax purposes: 45 pence for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year, then 25 pence for each subsequent mile

For National Insurance purposes: 45 pence for all business miles
Motorcycle 24 pence for both tax and National Insurance purposes and for all business miles
Cycle 20 pence for both tax and National Insurance purposes and for all business miles

Updates to this page

Published 11 January 2019
Last updated 26 May 2020 + show all updates
  1. The advisory fuel rates for company cars (AFRs) have been updated.

  2. Section about Advisory Fuel Rates (AFRs) for company cars has been updated.

  3. The advisory fuel rates for company cars (AFRs) have been updated.

  4. The advisory fuel rates for company cars (AFRs) have been updated.

  5. The company cars Advisory Fuel Rates (AFRs) from 1 June 2019 have been added.

  6. The company cars Advisory Fuel Rates (AFRs) from 1 March 2019 have been added.

  7. Information about the PAYE tax rates and thresholds for Scotland has been updated.

  8. Information about the Welsh PAYE tax rates and thresholds has been updated.

  9. First published.

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