An employee’s Class 1 National Insurance is made up of contributions:
i) deducted from their pay (employee’s National Insurance)
ii) paid by their employer (employer’s National Insurance)
The amounts deducted and paid depend on:
i) the employee’s National Insurance category letter
ii) how much of the employee’s earnings falls within each band
EMPLOYEEE - National Insurance Rates
This table shows how much employers deduct from employees’ pay for the 2021 to 2022 tax year.
Week Pay
£120 to £184
£184.01 to £967
Over £967 a week
Month Pay
£520 to £797 a month
£797.01 to £4,189 a month
£4,189 a month
Category Letter
M
Employee Under 21
0%
12 %
2 %
H
Apprentice Under 25
0%
12 %
2 %
A
All employees, except B,C,H,J,M,Z,X
0%
12 %
2 %
B
Married women & widows
0%
5.85%
2%
J
Employee with another Job
0%
2 %
2 %
Z
Under 21 with another Job
0%
2 %
2 %
C
Pensionner
N/A
N/A
N/A
X
No NI: Under 16 etc
N/A
N/A
N/A
EMPLOYER - National Insurance Rates
This table shows how much employers pay towards employees’ National Insurance for the 2021 to 2022 tax year.
Week Pay
£120 to £170
£170.01 to £967
Over £967 a week
Month Pay
(£520 to £737 a month)
£737.01 to £4,189 a month
(£4,189 a month)
Category Letter
M
Employee Under 21
0%
0 %
13.80 %
H
Apprentice Under 25
0%
0 %
13.80 %
A
All employees, except B,C,H,J,M,Z,X
0%
13.80 %
13.80 %
B
Married women & widows
0%
13.80 %
13.80 %
J
Employee with another Job
0%
13.80 %
13.80 %
Z
Under 21 with another Job
0%
0 %
13.80 %
C
Pensionner
N/A
13.80 %
13.80 %
X
No NI: Under 16 etc
N/A
N/A
N/A
You can also use calculators and tables to check employees’ National Insurance.
Class 1A and Class 1B rates
Employers pay Class 1A and 1B National Insurance on expenses and benefits they give to their employees. They must also pay Class 1A on some other lump sum payments, for example redundancy payments.
The rate for the tax year 2021 to 2022 is 13.8%.
2. Category letters
Employers use an employee’s National Insurance category letter when they run payroll to work out how much they both need to contribute.
Most employees have category letter A. Employees can find their category letter on their payslip.
Category Letter
M
H
A
B
J
Z
C
X
Employee group
Employees under 21
Apprentice under 25
All employees apart from those in groups B, C, J, H, M and Z in this table
Married women and widows entitled to pay reduced National Insurance
Employees who can defer National Insurance because they’re already paying it in another job
Employees under 21 who can defer National Insurance because they’re already paying it in another job
Employees over the State Pension age
Employers use category letter X for employees who do not have to pay National Insurance, for example because they’re under 16.
Category letter X
Employers use category letter X for employees who do not have to pay National Insurance, for example because they’re under 16.
Mariners and deep sea fishermen
HMRC has detailed information on National Insurance for mariners and deep sea fishermen.