How much National Insurance do I pay?

18-Jan-2010

Currently (in the 2009-2010 tax year), if you are employed and earn between £111 - £844 per week, you pay 11% of that in National Insurance contributions.  These are known as 'Class 1' National Insurance contributions. 



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If you earn above £844 per week, you also have to pay 1% of your earnings above this threshold.   You pay a lower amount if you are an employee and involved in your employer's 'contracted out' pension scheme.  Find out more about contracting out of a pension scheme on this website.

If you are self-employed, you have to pay a flat rate of  £2.40 per week in National Insurance contributions.   These are known as 'Class 2' National Insurance contributions.  In addition to this, you have to pay a percentage of your taxable profits; 8% on annual profits between £5,715 - £43,875 and 1% on any taxable profits above this.   These are known as 'Class 4' National Insurance contributions. 

If you are earning less than £5,075 in this current tax year, you can apply for an exception, meaning that you do not have to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions.  You can download the guidance notes and claim form for this exception here.