Limited time only - don’t sleep on it! T&Cs apply. Learn more
Class 1 National Insurance (NI) is a tax that you pay when you’re employed. There are multiple types of National Insurance that we’re liable to pay in the UK, depending on our employment status.
Take a look at the different types below:
Class of National Insurance | Who pays? | How do you pay? |
Class 1 | Employees who are under state pension age and earning >£242 per week | Automatically deducted by your employer from your salary – entitles you to claim JSA |
Class 1A/1B | Employers | Deducted from employees’ benefits and expenses |
Class 2 (scrapped from 6 April 2024) | Self-employed earning >£6,725 per year | Paid via a tax return |
Class 3 | Anyone | Paid in voluntary contributions to clear any gaps in your NI |
Class 4 | Self-employed earning >£12,570 per year | Paid via a tax return |
It’s 8% of your salary after you start earning £12,570 per year. This amount then drops to 2% once you earn over £50,270 a year.
Earning over £50,270 makes you a Higher Rate earner.
To calculate the National Insurance that you’re liable to pay, take a look at our employed and self-employed calculator.
Sign up for important updates, deadline reminders and basic tax hacks sent straight to your inbox.
"*" indicates required fields
Or see our Guides, Calculators or Taxopedia